Last year when I ran the Anthem Half Marathon on St. Patrick's Day weekend, I hadn't done a training run longer than 4 miles. I wasn't overly prepared for the race to say the least, but I completed it in a reasonable time. With 2 young kids at home, I didn't want to take time away from them by training long hours, that coupled with the fact that my youngest daughter still wasn't sleeping the night through at that point really pushed me to the brink of exhaustion at times. I ran a sub 2 hour half marathon without ever running longer than 4 miles in training, and I wasn't too disappointed with that.
This year was a little different. I extended my training runs up to 7 miles, knowing full well I could handle 13.1 on less training, but I was out to improve my time over last year for the Shamrock and the Crawlin' Crab. The weather wasn't great to say the least, but it was decent for running. The cooler temps were perfect, but the breeze wasn't exactly ideal. The roads were dry for the most part, the crowds, volunteers and support along the course were as good as ever given the weather conditions. I started out in the middle of my corral. I generally try to do that in order to keep from going out too fast. In hind sight, I should have moved up a bit, but it all worked out. I eased out through the first mile and never felt winded or fatigued. Sometimes during a training run I would have a slight bit of difficulty with the first mile if I didn't warm up at all or if I went out too fast. I just settled into a nice comfortable pace and stayed there. I realized after about mile 3 that I was just cruising right along, not at a great pace, but at a nice comfortable pace taking in the scenery and watching the other runners. By the time we made it to Fort Story and I saw the next clock, I knew about what my time was going to be when I finished. I was feeling good, wasn't pushing myself, and I was just really enjoying a relaxed race. I wasn't racing myself, trying for a PR, or anything else, I was just counting down the miles. By the time I got to the lighthouse and mile 8, I had it in my mind to just stay at that pace, stay comfortable for 3 more miles until I got to pass my kids at the Wyndam again, and just cruise on to the finish line. I passed them just after mile 11, told them I loved them, and stayed at my comfortable pace for a while. At mile 12 I decided to turn it up just a bit. My final mile was by far my fastest of the day. By the time we turned onto the boardwalk, I realized I had way too much energy left for that far into the race, but I finished at a nice pace for my final mile. I felt great finishing, enjoyed my water, Irish Stew, and especially a Yuengling Lager at the finish line tent. The finisher's blanket came in very hand on my 30 block walk back to the hotel!
I left a lot out on the course, but I finished without injury, improved on last year's time by a minute and a half or so, and really enjoyed the course for the first time in a few years. It wasn't the worst weather I ever ran that particular race in, but the weather really didn't have any impact on my time. I was grateful to get to spend the weekend with my family. My daughters and I were spectators while my wife and father-in-law participated in the 8K on Saturday, and then I got to take them swimming in the hotel pool on 2 different occasions on Saturday. They were all my biggest fans as I ran past them twice on Sunday as well.
It was a great St. Patrick's Day weekend that's been a tradition for several years now, and I look forward to that weekend every year!
