A1A Half Marathon - Take 2 (Brad's Take)

This past weekend the A1A Half Marathon was my first half marathon.  Previously I have ran 5k's, 10k's, obsticle runs, and the Ragnar Florida Keys, but no single run was a complete half marathon.  My theory had always been "if I wanted to go that far, I'd take the car."    I started out running short distances and my main goal was speed for a 1.5 mile run.  I also found that I liked running 5k's, mostly because working on the 5k pace also made my 1.5 mile time faster.  Then, I started adding distance beyond the 5k to make the 5k time better.  As I was focusing on shorter distances Angela kept adding more and more distance, and I started going longer to try to keep up.  Before you knew it, I was running Ragnar and planning for a half marathon.

I had big training plans and high hopes post-Ragnar for the A1A, but as the best laid plans often do, mine did not come to fruition.  After a little sickness and some other delays, I was rushing to get a 10 mile run in the week of A1A.  Not the best way to lead up to your first half.  I still wasn't too worried, though.  I knew I could finish, I was just bummed that I wouldn't be able to have the kind of time I wanted.

I'm not the fastest runner in the world and had no illusions that I would be placing.  I'm just very competitive with myself.  I always want to go faster and get a faster time and I set goals to "race" myself.  Going in I wanted to finish in less than 2 hours.  Unfortunately, considering the less than stellar execution on the training plan, I didn't think that would happen. 

Then the day of the race came and the weather was perfect for a race - cool (ok, cold for South Floridians anyway), even if a little windy.  I was again thinking about my goal.  And when we set off and I broke out of the crowd a little, I started running fast (for me).  Much faster than I planned to and much faster than I knew I could keep up.  So I slowed down to a comfortable, but still faster pace than I planned.  

 Angela already posted about how nice of a course it was, but words do not do it justice.  Most of the race was running along the Ft. Lauderdale Beach (not my photo), and we started just as the sun was coming up.  As if the view wasn't enough, it was one of the most well thought out race courses I have ever ran. 

Ultimately my official time was 2:08 for this race.  The actual run time was 2:02 (there was a required bathroom break in the middle and there was a line).  That was the most frustrating part about the race.  My goal was to finish in less than 2 hours, and I ended up 2 minutes over.

Toward the end of the race, I could have pushed myself more, but I "gave up" and slowed down.  I know that I could have made up the 2 minutes and came in under my goal, but I chose to take the easy way out. 

For me, running isn't about beating anyone else, it's about beating myself and my goals.  This time I chose to accept good enough and not push myself to go the extra mile (figuratively).  That was the worst part of this whole race - knowing that I could have did better but not doing it. 

For my first half marathon, this was a great race and a great experience.  I look forward to doing it again, and I look forward to beating the 2 hour mark at the Halloween Half.  I