Dayton River Corridor Classic Half Marathon

I stood at the start line outside of University of Dayton's Welcome Stadium ready to go. I was feeling confident. Despite the fact that my iPod crapped out on me, so I wouldn't have my tunes or my Phedippidations podcast to pass the early miles, I was still feeling confident. I was disappointed that I wouldn't get to hear the cheers from around the world of the other runners that were participating in the World Wide Half Marathon. I was really disappointed that I wouldn't get to use the playlist the Bree and I had spent months building for the race. Still I had gotten good use out of it during training, and I was well prepared for the race this morning. Nothing was going to bring me down.

I had my clothes layed out the night before. I had my food prepared. Everything was ready. What was I missing? What did I forget? Apparently it was my brain because when the starting gun went off I shot off the start line like a rocket and never thought to slow down until it was far too late.

About 1/2 mile in I fell into pace with a lady at a quick 6:52 pace. It felt great to be in step with someone. I concentrated on smooth breathing and a quick turnover. The air was cool, the sun hadn't broken through the clouds yet and everything was right with the world. I had visions of finishing at under an hour and 30 minutes. This fellow runner and I were like a well oiled machine as we broke off at water stations to grab a drink and then fell right back into step. It went like that for the first 5 miles or so.

Somewhere between 5 1/2 and 6 miles my fortunes began to change as a strange pain ripped across my back between my shoulder blades and fatigue began to set in. I tried to push on at the same pace, but I had to slow down. I backed off and tried to stretch out my back a little as I ran. It eventually worked out, but I knew that the rest of the race wasn't going to be as easy as those early miles.

That little thought and little bit of doubt opened the door to the voices. The voices came in to sit for a while and have a chat. We discussed how the pain in my back was weird and painful and probably would come back. They laughed and laughed as I tried to pick my pace back up and ask them to leave. It was a grand ol' tea party...for them. I was struggling and by mile 8 marker I had another issue. I could feel blisters forming on the instep of my left foot and on my right heel. Seriously? What the hell. This caused the voices to crack up and they jabbered on.

At mile 9 waterstation I had had enough. I was way to far into my own head, so I stopped. I picked up a cup of water and gave myself a 1 minute time out to walk. I needed to regroup and get myself out of my head. I ushered the voices out and decided that I would try to relax, find a comfortable pace and enjoy the rest of the run. I got a helping hand by another fellow runner somewhere around mile 10 as a guy ran up beside me and started to make small talk. We talked about the weather, races we had run the previous weekend, anything to forget about the fatigue and pain of the late miles. I don't know his name, and I didn't see him after the race, but he was awesome and I thank him.

After passing mile 12 I could hear the cheers and see the stadium as we headed in the home stretch. We headed off the road, across the parking lot and into the stadium where we finished with a 3/4 lap around the track to the finish line. I could hear labored breathing and a quick pace coming up behind me trying to make the pass, but there was no way I was going to be passed 200 yards from the finish line. I picked up the pace and thought about the days of running the 400 meters in track. I finished strong.

mile 1: 6:52 mile 2: 6:57 mile 3: 7:04 mile 4: 6:55 mile 5: 6:56 mile 6: 7:05 mile 7: 7:30 mile 8: 7:47 mile 9: 7:48 mile 10: 7:55 mile 11: 7:56 mile 12: 7:58 mile 13.1: 8:33

My official time was 1:37:21 finishing 5th in my division (M 30-34) and 91st overall (I think). They haven't posted the official results on the site, but they were available the day of the race, and that is what I remember reading. I could be wrong. I was a little delerious at the end.

It wasn't a PR day, but I'm happy with the results. I was only off by a minute and a half from my 1:35:55 PR set at the Loveland Challenge last year. It was a huge learning experience. I now know that I really could use some music at the beginning of races to help me relax and slow down in those early miles. I got so wound up with thoughts of pr's and fast speeds that I made a really silly mistake. I also learned that no matter how comfortable a new shoe feels on short runs that doesn't mean they are broken in and ready to go on a long run or race. I know I'm not making grand discoveries here, but hey I learn best through experience and more experience and nearly hurting myself. It's all good.