It was finally here, my target race. After months of waiting, anxiety and training I was ready to tackle the New Orleans half marathon. Let’s be honest I could have trained more; I could have been more disciplined, but now was not a good time to fathom on could-have-been’s. It was game time; I needed to bring my top form for this one.
The race morning was chilly, slightly breezy and overcast. My fellow runner and I spent hours the night before inquiring about the race weather. Some said it would rain, some said it would be cold and some said it would be gorgeous. Clearly the jury was still out; the weather could not make its mind up. It was a short half mile walk to the start line from the race hotel (Hilton Riverside @ New Orleans). I saw some runners jogging to the start line; I was content with my brisk walk. Breakfast came in the form of cereal bar, banana and Gatorade- simple but just enough. I checked my bag/clothes in and made my way to the start line. The race started on the main road opposite the Superdome, the plethora of people swarmed the start line. I tried to locate the 3.50 full marathon pace group, but could not find it and hence decided to run my own race. After another brisk walk to the start line it was all GO GO GO!
0-3 miles: This was my favorite part of the course because we got to run through the French quarter. It was a two for one deal- 1) run the race, and 2) sightsee through the French quarter. The roads were narrow and it did not help that cars were parked on the street. Believe it or not, people had already started hitting the bars at 7 AM, or maybe they were still drinking from the night before. I was offered cups of beer by folks who were cheering us on! It was tempting, but I decided to pass on it. I was mostly running on the sidewalk as I was desperately trying to overtake the traffic (more on this later). Soon we left the French quarter and were on wider roads.
3-6.2 miles: This part of the race course was very rustic and classic New Orleans. A tram line was running right in the middle of the street, grass and pavements around the tram track and then the road on either side. There were old houses, shops and coffee shops scattered on the sides of the road. Although most of the runners ran on the road, I chose to run on the grass area adjacent to the tram track. I had been battling left knee pain for the past couple of weeks and hence I figured that running on the grass would be easier on my knee. After 4 miles of running I was averaging 8.5 miles/hr pace- which in hindsight was a little quick. I was used to running 9-9.5 miles/hr for the first 10k. It was at this point that the pain in my left knee started. I had no choice but to slow down, I needed to do this so as to last the distance. At the half way point my stopwatch read 55 minutes- which meant around a 1.50 finish.
6.2-10: This period proved to be the typical mind against body battle. My left knee was hurting, but my PR was on the line. My legs wanted to slow down but my mind wanted me to run a solid race. I spent the next 10 minutes thinking about nothing but the pain in my knee. I was struggling; I was constantly changing my left leg stroke. Amidst of all this I forgot that mentally I was exerting a lot of energy and eventually my body caught up with it. I was tiring not because of the distance but because my mind was constantly fighting the pain. I needed a boost, I needed a break. Near the 8 mile mark (beautiful park with a golf course) I decided to take a quick water pit stop. I gulped down 5 glasses of water, a gu shot and a Tylenol - then off I went.
10-finish: The Tylenol started to take its effect around the 10 mile mark. I once again chose to run on the grass, this time we were running on the other of the tram tracks. I could still see quite a few runners on the other side of the road. My pain was ever present; I managed to recuperate some energy and hence decided to press on to the finish. For the next two miles (10-11, 11-12) I picked up the pace to 8 min/mile and felt great. It was when I hit the 12 mile water stop that I realized that I could beat my PR- my clock read 1.49. And here I made a rookie mistake- I got complacent and eased my pace. With the finish line half a mile away I realized that I was foolish and then had to sprint hard to the finish. The final product, 1.57.38- a personal record by 1 full minute! Of course this could have been slightly better had I not eased my pace at the end.
Lessons learned:
1). I spent way too much energy trying to make my way through the running traffic. I need to figure out how to do this more efficiently.
2). I could have run the first half slightly slower and conserved more for the finish. I was slightly unhappy with the fact that I ran the second half slower.
3). Running with niggling injury is very tough. A lot of energy gets exerted in focusing/thinking about the niggle when it could be rightly used to focus on the race.
4). Have a race plan and stick to it. The night before the race I decided I would run with the pace group, but then changed my mind just before the race. I should have gone into the race with my own plan; instead I had to come up with one while I was running. I think I had better race strategy in my previous race at Dallas- partly because I had a good steady pace setter at the beginning of the race. I need to work on figuring out what works best for me.
5). Strengthen the legs and core- then stick to a more disciplined training schedule.
6). Do not get complacent when ahead!
Next race- Austin ATT Half Marathon on 15th Feb!
Cheers,
V
