Editor’s Notes: One foot in front of the other
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Well, I did NOT go running down the big hill with my arms waving Muppet-style while yelling "Wheeeee!" but I did manage to finish this year's News and Sentinel Half Marathon five minutes (ish) faster than last year - and ahead of 29 whole people!
(The people who crossed the finish line are incredible and in a category I will never touch. The people who ground it out and finished no matter how long it took in that humidity have my utmost respect.)
My apologies to a young friend who believed I saw her at the post-race pizza lunch and then left without saying goodbye. A strange thing happens when you've been putting one foot in front of the other for 3 hours and 14 minutes and then just … stop doing that. For me, there's some time spent on my own planet while I readjust.
I confess that ahead of the race, I had started to panic about whether I could handle the new course. I don't know why. I had trained - albeit to maintain a 15-minutes-per-mile pace - and had even given Ft. Boreman hill several practice runs.
But a day or two before the race I started to worry. Could my legs really handle starting at the bottom of the Marrtown Road exit ramp and not turning downhill again until the overlook at the top?
As it turns out, yes they could; but for two days afterward, every time I tried to climb stairs, they screamed.
I was also irrationally worried about missing a turn on the new course. I shouldn't have been. Race organizers did a phenomenal job of marking EVERYTHING. If you happen to be walking the Parkersburg Ohio River Trail anytime soon and see a U-turn arrow with two giant feet painted on either side of it, that's where we all turned around. There was that kind of helpful signage and road markings everywhere.
In fact, the only thing I did miss were the spectators. I hope it was just uncertainty about the new course that kept the usual cheerers away. Next year, maybe there will be more people along the course. It really does help those of us who feed off crowd energy to bump along out there.
So, back to that pace I was trying to keep. The reason I aim for 15 minutes is that I also like to do Walt Disney World half marathons. Those require maintaining a pace above 16 minutes per mile or else you'll be swept from the course.
I do not want to be swept from the course.
So I make sure I've trained enough to have a minute-per-mile cushion and otherwise just try to have fun and enjoy the day.
Last Saturday, however, Art Smith stopped me JUST before I was about to head to the starting line and said "You've got to do faster than 2:44," with a smirk on his face. I said "Why, is that your (personal best)?" He said, "Yep!" and headed off.
I've never done 13.11 miles that fast. Not in the 12 years I've been doing half marathons. My fastest is 2:49ish.
But in the absence of spectators to provide positive motivation, it turns out a little irritation with Art Smith is good for 8 seconds per mile, and I finished at a 14:52/mile pace. I thanked him after the race.
Oh, and I did not have a chance to thank the woman at the LAST water stop who was cheering like crazy to push us all through our final half mile. I don't know how long she'd been keeping that up, but the energy was contagious and it worked. Or the young man who was unsure about how to handle a crazy person barreling toward him asking for both the Gatorade in his left hand and the water in his right, at a water stop. He handled the exchange beautifully even as he looked around, possibly thinking "What did I sign up for?"
It's the people who make this event so special. That's always been the case. I and everyone else who was out there in the half marathon or two-mile are grateful for those who made it happen.
And if you're considering participating next year, I'll say it again: If I can do it, so can you - though it turns out a slightly stubborn streak doesn't hurt.
Christina Myer is executive editor of The Parkersburg News and Sentinel. She can be reached via e-mail at cmyer@newsandsentinel.com.