Caesar Rodney

I picked up Jenn and Martia on a rainy Sunday morning and we headed down to Wilmington for the half marathon. I don't mind running in light rain but I was really hoping it didn't turn into a steady, heavy rain. Luckily just before the gun the rain abated and we only had to deal with the puddles that were left on the course.

I started out to quickly which really seems to be the norm for me as of late. The first mile went by in exactly 6:00 minutes and although it felt great I knew it wasn't near a pace I was going to be able to sustain. The second mile was 6:15 and the third 6:30, this was the pace I was hoping to hold during the race. The beginning miles went by rather quickly, I didn't feel great, I didn't feel bad just kind of pounded them out. I had looked at the hill profile for the course on Saturday night and I knew I had some hills coming so I tried not to push to hard and just bided my time.

I went through the 5 mile split in 31:40, only 20 seconds slower than a 5 mile race that I had done a few weeks prior, I felt much better than I did at the end of that so this was a good sign. The hills began after this and they weren't too steep but long and my pace dropped off to upper 6's with one mile at 7:00. It was at this point I saw Ian stretching out an achey achilles that has been bothering him lately. He joined me for a mile or so and then slowed down a bit when we hit another hill.

Once you crest the hills you hit this long out and back between miles 8-11. I definitely wasn't in peak form at this point. I kept up about 6:45 pace and just made sure not to drop back from the guy that was in front of me. I wasn't feeling to great and I hoped that it was just a bit of a low point in the race. I saw Seebo and a couple other I knew on their return trip and then made the loop for the return myself. On the way back I saw many PR's and this, along with passing the 10 mile mark, really bouyed my spirits.

On the trip back you head down all the hills you just ran up. Ian came up from behind me around mile 10 and was nice enough to act as a rabbit for me for the remainder of the race, hanging a few feet ahead and silently urging me to pick up the pace. It definitely helped, I was able to add what little speed I could. I pounded down the hills as quickly as possible and tried to mentally prep myself for the hill I knew was coming at the finish. When I turned the corner and saw the hill to end the race I thought, "This doesn't look as bad as everybody makes it out to be". Looks can be decieving. It was hard as hell heading up those last few blocks. I pushed as hard as I could and crossed the finish in 1:26:42 gun time and 1:26:18 chip time. A 6 minute PR!!!. I was definitely excited, I had raced well on a fairly difficult course.

This race was validating for me. I ran a quick 10 miler at Broad Street last year but I haven't run a decent race over 6 miles since. This race was on par with that Broad Street run and has really lifted my motivation as we head into the spring season.

Congrats to all the Philly runners, I know there was a few PR's out there.