Scottsboro Half Marathon March 14, 2015

Saturday, March 14, 2015 

I got up at 5:30 to shower and fed the baby.  My family and I left our house at 6:30 to get to Scottsboro at 7:30 a.m.  I was glad to have Rick driving!  The day was cool (50s) with just a little drizzle.  

Rick and the kids watched the start at 8:00 a.m.

Kids Half Marathon 8:30 a.m.

The kids had come to packet pick up (at First Place on Friday) and had seen a sign up for a kids half marathon.  We always try to take advantage of those when we can.  They are usually free.  The kids are supposed to run/walk all of the miles except the last 1.1 (or 1.2 for a marathon) in the several weeks before the race.  Since my kids had been logging miles for a kids marathon in May, I told them we could count 12 of those miles towards this race and make them up after this race (so they will have run/walked 12 miles before this race and 25 separate miles before the kids marathon in May.  This is very doable for my kids since we usually walk at least a mile a day!).  At packet pick up, the kids were given a bag full of goodies.  They were excited to run 1.1 miles today!  They were given shirts and medals at the finish line.  Since I was running my race, I missed theirs, but Gregg Gelmis got some good pictures!  

The Race

With all of the snow/ice the last few weeks, I hadn't trained well for this race.  I mainly tried to get 4-6 miles of running or elliptical 5 days a week, with one longer run of up to 13 miles.  No speedwork.  Over a year ago I made a goal to PR attempt (sub 1:30) today, but as the race approached I knew I wasn't ready for that today.  I set a more realistic goal of a sub 1:50 a few weeks ago, but last week I did a 1:45 half marathon in training so I convinced myself that I could try for sub 1:40 (7:37 pace) today.  As you can see, I was all over the place with my goals/expectations of what I can do.  I was finding it hard to determine a pace that would be realistic yet challenging.

I started in the low 7:20s and decided to hold them as long as possible.  I was 2nd place female from the start.  The first few miles felt great, and I enjoyed seeing friends on a couple out-and-backs.  Around Mile 6, I realized that there were a lot of rolling hills in this race and a lot of pretty boring straight sections.  I was finding it harder to keep my pace.  Things got pretty tough in the last few miles and I slowed to 8:00 minute miles, just showing me that my goal was a good one and that I would have to fight for it!  My body is coming back from this baby! 

 Right before Mile 12, I spotted a fellow Fleet Feet teammate, Eric, up ahead of me.  He said he was looking for the 1:40 pacer but didn't see him (Eric had planned to pace the 1:30 group but fell off pace).  Then he asked if I wanted help coming into the finish.  I guess I looked bad--I felt it--so of course I took him up on his offer!  He talked and distracted me and also kept me informed about the pace.  I was not too bummed when he said we'd missed the 1:40.  I knew I really was giving it my all for the day.  I appreciated his help but most of all his compliment that I was one of the toughest runners he knew.  It means a lot to hear someone say that when you are struggling.

Finally, I rounded the corner towards the finish line!  I made it in 1:41:25.

 It was great being greeted by my family.  I nursed the baby before the awards started and was happy to receive a nice medal and bib holder and gift certificate.

I was sent an email with my official results.

Katie Maehlmann
Overall Place:     26
Chip Time:  1:41:25
Gun Time:  1:41:27
Pace:   7:45
Age Group (Female 35 to 39) Finish:  *****/22
Gender Place:  2

Closing Thoughts

I will race in the McKay Hollow 25K next weekend, and then it's back to 5Ks and 10Ks for me until a fall marathon (haven't planned which one yet).  I felt very sore on Sunday after this race, but I know I am getting stronger.  I even got up and ran twice with my running group this week.  It's so nice to be back with them!