Birmingham Half Marathon

Just six short weeks ago I registered and began training for the Mercedes Half Marathon in Birmingham. I really was not happy with my time at the St. Jude half marathon. I blamed it on the high temperatures but I think my body was tired. That was my 4th half marathon of the year and I had been training very much non-stop the entire year. I had made progress and had a good time at my half in November for the road race series, but really had hoped to have a PR.

My running coach really encouraged me to find a cold weather half marathon. I knew that I would run faster in the cooler temperatures and I really wanted to proove to myself that all my training from 2012 had paid off. So, after searching the area I landed on Birmingham. I asked several friends to tell me honestly about the course and what they thought. They said it was a fun and good course. There were some hills but it was concentrated in the area for miles 7-9.  They encouraged me to sign up and that while I might not get a PR it would be a good one.

I started my training back up after taking a few slower weeks after St. Jude and the holidays. I never stopped running but had not done a long run in about a month. The first week I geared back up I ran 8 and did fine. My times kept coming in lower and lower as I neared the race. Gary could not believe how fast I was going and that my 10, 12 and 14 mile runs were so great. I felt wiped out after the 14 miler but otherwise I was feeling very confident.

Race weekend approached. All the Zyrieks were going to the race with me. The girls were out of school on Monday for President's Day, so we decided to make it a fun family weekend. We had Anna's basketball game at noon on Saturday and then we skirted out of town. The Expo closed at 6pm so we knew we had to get there quickly. It is a 3 1/2 or 4 hour drive and we made it in plenty of time. I picked up my packet and race number and we decided to drive the course so I could prepare myself for the next morning. It looked ok with a lot of turns. We actually took a wrong turn at one point and the road went straight up for 2 miles and I wanted to throw up. We figured out we were wrong and headed back the right way. The hills looked manageable and I was excited.

Yummy dinner and an early bedtime prepared us for the 5:30 wakeup call. The race started at 7am and it was COLD. It was 27 degrees at the start. I was thrilled and Gary and the girls were bundled up. Luckily they could duck in the Expo during part of the race to warm up.  I started with a good fast pace. Gary could not believe how fast I was going for the first few miles. He signed up for text updates. After they saw me early, they got warm and met me back at mile 12. They got updates at the 10k, 15k and finish. As I raced I really felt good and was making good time. I never stopped for water as I was carrying my own water bottle. I covered the 10k distance faster than ever, I hit the 10 mile mark over 10 minutes faster than my road race series time. I was beginning to believe I could PR (2:05) or even better beat my secret goal of coming in under 2:00. I never mentioned that goal to anyone but it was in the back of my head.

With my constant calculations I knew I had room to spare for the PR but not much for the 2:00 mark. I saw Gary and the girls between mile 12 and 13 and they were awesome cheerleaders. They were screaming that I was going to beat 2:00 and to run as fast as I could. They were right. I finished in 1:59:17!!! That is my fastest time ever and I felt so awesome. I was proud of what I had accomplished. I met the family at the finish line and we all hugged. The girls were jumping up and down and telling strangers that I had beat 2:00. Gary was overwhelmed and I was so happy.

Great race.....worth the six weeks of hard training....now to figure out what is next!! Not another half marathon for a while but I do want to keep going and work on getting a little faster.