State-to-State 2011

Now I will begin writing about some races, not in order. I have been neglecting to record anything about my races lately, and I want to do it and I always have lots of ideas about what I want to say, but I am just not finding the time.

Gotta start somewhere, so starting with the one I did Sunday: the 9th annual State-to-State Half-Marathon. This is one of those races I have done every year since it started, so now I have to keep doing it every year because I have a "streak" to protect.

The race starts and finishes in Oxford, Ohio (home of Miami University) and follows a mostly out-and-back course of rolling hills into Indiana and back. It begins in "uptown" Oxford, passes through some residential areas and then into farmland, and back again. The first and last tenth of a mile or so is on red bricks, with the rest of it on your normal asphalt roadway.

I have a little spreadsheet of my results from this race each year. The data includes my weight, my time, my placement, and any relative details about why things unfolded the way they did. I've never run a very good time here. The first year was just before my knee surgery, when I was already slightly injured but in denial about it. And I've never managed to get back into the kind of shape I was in before that injury.

My best time at this race was a 2:04 in 2006. By comparison, my 1/2 marathon PR is 1:47, set on the much flatter Dayton course in 2002, just before I qualified for Boston. My worst time was last year, when I struggled through a 2:19 (recovering from bronchitis, overweight, undertrained, hot day?).

This year I had an idea about trying to go under 2:00. It seemed possible, though less realistic than something in the 2:03 - 2:05 range. So I decided I would aim for the sub-2:00, but not let myself be disappointed in a 2:04, which would at least beat last year's time. I figured I was definitely in at least 2:04 shape.

Got up at 5 am for my two cups of coffee and one cup of vanilla yogurt. Dressed and in the car by 6 am. Arrived in Oxford around 7 am and found my regular parking spot on Church St. (two blocks from the start) just waiting for me.

Hit the portapotties before the lines start to form. Picked up my bib (# 3, I assume in deference to my exalted standing as a streaker), shirt and timing chip. The shirts this year are a little better than usual---long-sleeved technical shirt, in white, with the race logo (which is rather ugly and uninspired). This is not why I do this race. I do it because I am a streaker!

Yes, as races go, and as half-marathon races go, it is not my favorite. But it is okay. Its charms have grown on me over the 9 years of participating. It is, for one thing, a good value. It is reasonably well-supported. The drive is on the long side for a local event, but easy enough to get to. I know the course really well by now. It has become a very comfortable event for me.

I see a couple of other people with low bib numbers. In most races these are reserved for the elite runners. But none of these people look any fitter than I am. So maybe we are all the streakers. I wonder if they are going to recognize us in some way at the start, thank us for our years of support, or whatever. But nothing like that happens. In the 5th year they gave us all autographed copies of a book about a race across the country during the Depression. I am assuming that they will do something for us in the 10th year. My plan is to keep running this race every year until I am the only streaker left.

I was wearing black capri tights, a black short-sleeved technical top (from the Mason Half-Marathon) and my white cap from Fargo. In a little fanny pack, I am carrying my car key, 2 packs of GU Chomps, a chapstick and a small tube of Aquaphor. It was still a little chilly, and at the last minute I decided to add my blue long-sleeved technical top from Milwaukee. It is light enough to take off and tie around my waist, and would keep the drizzle off if it started again.

Hit the portapotties again. Had to wait on line this time. Went out in the street behind the start line. Did not see anyone I knew. Heard some people talking about a 2:00 pace so lined myself up by them. Not as far back as I usually start. Hoped I wouldn’t get passed by too many people right away.

No National Anthem this year (I think they played it before they started the walkers, a half-hour earlier). No hullabaloo, no announcements. At 8:00 am we are off.

It takes me about ten seconds to cross the start line. I’m in the right place, not getting passed and not having to run around people. I get water at the first aid station. They have them every mile this year. I don’t seem to remember that many in the past. I miss the first mile marker but that’s okay because I know where I am. I take off the blue shirt and tie it around my waist. I think about ditching it but it doesn’t weigh that much. I pass the people playing drums who are out there every year.

A sub-2:00 is about 9:05 to 9:10 pace. My first two miles take 17:54, so I’m just about there. We go through the upscale subdivision, we go through the assisted living complex. I am wondering if I am overdressed, and I hope the sun doesn’t come out. Mile 3 is 9:03, still right on pace. I have some Chomps. I am taking water or Gatorade at every aid station, and walking a minute per mile. Sometimes I walk for 30 seconds through the aid station and another 30 seconds on an uphill. There are a few people who pass me when I take my walking breaks, and to amuse myself I keep track of how long it takes me to catch up with them after I start running again, and when in the race they disappear for good. Disappear behind me, that is.

Mile 4 is 9:12, but I don’t worry about it with the hills. I pass some black cattle chomping away in a field, including one very large bull. Good morning, Mr. Bull! I pass some horses, who come running out towards the fence to greet us and I swear they are smiling. Good morning, horses!

Mile 5 is 8:53. Mile 6 is 8:59. I have some more Chomps. We cross over into Indiana. We hit the turnaround. I think about how I always slow down so much in the second half of this race. You are running into the sun and the wind. I wonder what is going to happen today.

Mile 7 is 9:47. I try not to be disheartened. It is still overcast and the temps are holding steady. I try to focus on how good I feel, how if I can just run the next 6 miles in an hour I will have a sub-2:04 at least. I remind myself about how in the middle of this race sometimes the mile markers seem a little off and also there are the hills.

Mile 8 is 8:39 and that's more like it! Mile 9 is 9:30. I'll be done in less than 40 minutes, I tell myself. I'm skipping the Chomps now and sticking with Gatorade.

Mile 10 is 9:32. The horses and the cows all seem to have gone inside. Mile 11 is 9:24. I look forward to the downhill portion of mile 12. The drummers are still out to lend their support. Mile 12 is 9:01.

The last mile is mostly uphill, but once you hit the bricks, you can see the finish line. I try to pick it up. And then I can see the clock and realize that I am going to break two hours for sure. I run a 9:12 for the last 1.1 miles, kicking hard at the end. I don't throw up, but have some problems in the other direction, so to speak. I don't care. I cross the line in 1:59:15 on the clock, 1:59:04 chip time.

I get my medal, catch my breath, check out the food. I'm not too hungry, but I have some more Gatorade, and later I go back for a cheese stick. I hang around a little while, and notice that they are posting the results up on a concrete pillar. I debate looking at the results vs. waiting to find out when I get home. Finally I go to check.

I discover that I have gotten second place in my age group. Yeehah! I am pretty excited about this, because I have never placed in my age group at this race before, never even really come close. Woo! I have to look at it a couple of times, walk away and keep coming back and looking at it to make sure I'm seeing it right.

Now I have to wait for my award to come in the mail. Anti-climactic but better than nothing. Not too bad for an old gal. Not super speedy but respectable, almost local-class time. And faster than last year, by a bunch. The little bits of more serious training I have been doing are working.