Friday night was the elite 8 of the NCAA basketball tournament and both my alma maters played late so the games ended a little past midnight. I figured that would only add to the torture of the race as I would be going on about five and a half hours sleep. Got up early and several tri club friends headed to Lexington with our new concern being the weather. We started the drive at about 50 degrees, but by race start, the temperature had dropped a bit and we were dealing with some drizzle. The radar indicated that we'd be in for certain rain by the end; it was just a matter of time.
I decided to go out with the 2 hour pace group and see how it goes. Here is a visual of the elevation:
You can see that there is hardly a flat spot on the course.
The pacers went out a bit fast, and our first few miles were: 8:46, 8:57, and 8:52 but I felt good so I was ok with building up a bit of cushion on the two hour mark. The next few miles were: 9:08, 8:39, 8:50, and 9:02. Miles eight and nine were both 8:55 and then the rain really started coming down. At one point, I think we had a bit of sleet to go with the sideways rain and wind.
Mile ten is the hardest mile in the race as you climb something called the "corkscrew," which is just as it sounds. It was 9:15, but I knew I had 2:09 beat and was in great shape for a sub-2. I also started wondering what my overall half marathon PR was. I thought it was somewhere near 1:58, but I wasn't sure.
The last few miles were 8:59, 8:40, and 8:44. With the wicked rain, wind and cold, I was ready to be done and thank goodness the finish was in sight. I ended up with a total of 1:56:39, and as it turns out, it was nearly a two minute PR.
My next big race is the KDF Marathon in a few weeks and if I can pull off a 1:56 in those hills, can a four hour marathon be possible? At this point, I know I can finish it, so I might well go for it, right?
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