Tim Hibbard dot com: Kansas (half) Marathon

So after spending a lot of time talking with my new internet coach Steve Speirs (@britishbulldog), David Manthey of Runner’s Edge and the Garry Gribble’s guys, I came up with a pretty solid plan to conquer my first half marathon. Hold back…settle in…finish strong!

Before I get all geeky on you, let me say how very cool of an experience this was. It was 50 degrees out, very wet and very windy. And the supporters were out there all bundled up, cheering us all on. The volunteers at the aid stations were all smiles and supportive. Everybody involved brought a lot of positivity to the race and it meant a lot. Even at the toughest parts of the race, I was in a good mood and it had a lot to do with the volunteers and observers.

So, sticking to my plan, my first two miles were 7:46 and 7:55. It was really tough having all those people pass me. The starting gun is like a shot of adrenaline and all I wanted to do was come out full speed, but a lot of smart people told me to start slowly, so I did.

At mile 3, I started to turn it on. This is also where the first hill was and I do a far amount of hill training, so I was able to start picking off lots of the people that had been passing me for the first two miles. Mile 3, 4 and 5 were 7:16, 6:56 and 6:58.

Mile 6 was the start of a 3 mile hill. I was able to keep my splits around target range 7:07, 7:30 and 7:11. The best part was that I kept picking people off. A few of them would increase their stride as I approached, but eventually I would pass by them.

Mile 10 was go time. A nice flat stretch, no opposing traffic and a guy in front of me that I was having trouble closing the gap on. 6:44 was that split.

Mile 11 was approaching the last turn. I knew I would be heading north soon into a very nasty wind and going up the final hill. I took advantage of the flatness and clipped off a 6:55. I also finally passed that guy in the orange shirt. He was an older guy. Probably at least 55 or 60. How proud he must feel to be so healthy at his age. I’ll never forget that color of orange.

Mile 12 is probably the most exhausted I have ever felt on a run. The wind was gusting like it only does in Kansas, and the hill was an 150 feet incline that was just soul crushing. Never in my life did I want to walk so badly. But there was a guy in front of me that I had been chasing for the last 1/2 mile and he stopped and walked for about 10 seconds. I dug deep into the will power reservoir and ended up with a 7:22.

Mile 13 finished up that last nasty hill and I saw the finish line in all it’s glory. This feeling came over me and it was like a shot of energy. I could feel every muscle in my body and all they wanted to do was go, go, go. I felt like I was coming out of the blocks in a 100M dash. I must have passed an additional 4 or 5 people that had been in my sights, but I didn’t think I could catch them.

I crossed the finish line at 1:32:43. I looked down at my Garmin and it said 12.79 miles. Huh? I figured I messed something up along the way, but other people had recorded about the same distance. So the race was about .4 miles short, but I had reached my average target pace of 7:15, which would have put me in at just under 1:35, which was my goal. And better yet, it gets recorded at 1:32:43. So I’ll take it.

I ended up in 25th place overall and 2nd in my age group. Once I turned on the gas at mile 3, I was never passed again.

And here is some photographic proof:

Before the race, texting my wife. It was a nippilicious temperature :)