Posted by Wyman Hamilton on December 15, 2004 at 14:25:43:
The Holiday Half Marathon
The Half marathon was going to be my first race back that I was really going to push the limits again since a disappointing marathon in Chicago. The marathon had taken more out of me physically and mentally than I really wanted to admit. Still I had been training extremely hard and lately had had many good workouts, I was ready to test the legs again in a race, ironically the next race was a half marathon, a little intimidated I got to the race and discovered it was a bit colder than expected, I talked a bit with some of the guys, Justin was going to lay back a bit this race and recover some, That left it seemed Joey and I in the front. I warmed up and stretched thinking about the next hour and a half, was a ready to push over this long a distance again? I was going to try, my legs have been feeling great lately. True to form, just when I thought Joey wasn't coming and I would be running alone, he popped up just before the start. We were off at the gun. A comfortable pace at first with a few runners with us running the 8K race. We went through the first mile in 5:53, perfect I thought that felt good, Joey said it was a bit slow, that concerned me a some. mile two 5:43, Joey was setting the pace I was following his lead, still felt pretty good, mile three 5:41, mile 4 5:38, mile 5 was in 5:35, we hit the turn around and I told Joey I would take the first mile in the wind he set on my shoulder and we ran 5:50 for the 6th mile. I was beat, that mile took to much out of me I thought, I remembered why I had sworn off long races for a while, there was a bit of regret. Joey took over and pushed through the wind from mile 6-7 I sat behind him and finally the running felt easy again, I was recovering, the wind shield was just what I needed. 5:52 for mile 7. I took over then and started pushing the pace when we turned around the second time and had the wind at our back, I thought it was my chance to go. mile 8 and 9 were 5:39 and 5:36 respectively. As soon as we got back on the main road we hit the wind again though. I struggled through 10 and 11, both miles over 5:50, I could not hear Joey behind me except for some occasional words of encouragement, I had not won the race yet. I went through mile 12 in 5:55 I was fading, Joey was gaining I could feel him behind me, I asked Larry how far back he was hoping for about a 10-15 second gap, Larry said Joey was only 3-4 seconds back and gaining, I was in trouble, my arms and legs were tying up. I found a bit more and pushed hard for as long as I could. I glanced back and Joey was still there, I could not break him, I yelled to him to come up with me and trying to push hard again, I was done, just when I was about to fall completely apart, we went around a corner and I could see the finish, I pushed as hard as I could and finished in 1:15:16, Joey was only about 20 seconds back. It was a great race, I was still a bit slower than I was through the half marathon mark at Chicago but I did not have that wind there. It turned out to be a great race, it would not have been near that fast without Joey there pushing me, we worked together most of the race. It is one I will always remember. Joey has always been an inspiration to me and part of the reason I am where I am today, I would have run in college if it were not for the encouragement of people like Joey. I am still focusing on 5K and 10K races for a while, with my eyes set on Mcquires in March (sub 15 minutes) and then the ATR (sub 30:30). I can't wait but the journey would not be accomplished without people Like Joey and the other leaders in the running community like Jon Adams, both of whom have helped me tremendously along the way. Thanks to everyone for a great race.
run hard,
Wyman