It’s been a long, long time since I ran a half-marathon. It’s November, and this is my first one this year. But I’ve also learned that I’m capable of much faster times than what I’ve submitted in the past. It’s really just a matter of making your legs go faster.

Mile 1 - 9:18. Seems like a fast start. That’s OK. I know I’ll slow down, and I know I have problems pacing myself. Fast is OK.

Mile 2 & 3 – 17:40. I never did see the 2nd mile marker. Meaghan did, so there must have been one. Whatever. Still, a fast start. That’s like, 2 miles where I averaged 8:50/mile.

Mile 4 - 8:32. This is where I passed Meaghan. She even yelled out to me, “You’re going faster than 9:00/mile.” I knew that; my watch was working. But, damn, I felt really, really good this morning.

Mile 5 – 9:23.

Mile 6 – 8:46. Obviously, consistency is not my strong suit here. Still, 6 miles at 53:41 would have led to a 10k PR. In fact, let me show you them. My 10k time was 55:43 – that’s 9:00/mile flat! My best 10k was just a few weeks ago at a 9:17/mile pace. So now I’m thinking that my next 10k needs to be in sub-9/mile.

Mile 7 – 9:00. At this point, my mind starts thinking that I can finish in under 2:00.

Mile 8 – 9:30. Um, maybe not.
Mile 9 – 9:20. Or maybe.

Mile 10 – 9:18. OK, this is crazy, and my mind is really flying around now. That’s 3 really consistent miles. We’ve already established that consistency is not my strong suit. I look at my watch. 1:30:51. I needed to run a 5k in 29 minutes. In theory I could do that – better than that even – but I had just ran the greatest 10 miles of my life. My legs were already aching. And that seed is planted: sub-2:00 isn’t going to happen. And once that seed gets in your head, that’s it. You’ve lost the brain game.

Mile 11 – 10:21. This is not how you run a 5k in 29:00.

Mile 12 – 10:02. Still going the wrong way.

Mile 13 – 10:25. Well, shit.

Mile 13.1 – 0:59. Total time was 2:02:40 by my watch, 2:02:39 by the timing chip, and 2:04:30 by the clock. The watch/chip time comes out to 9:22 per mile, which is good enough for preferred seeding for Indianapolis Mini Marathon.

Don’t get me wrong. Getting a PR and beating my goal time of 2:05 by better than 2 minutes is an outstanding result. But I also watched a sub-2 slip through my toes via my brain. I lost that in my head before I ever lost it in my legs.

I can definitely tell that hanging out with athletes is having an effect on my energy level. It’s Sunday, and I’ve already registered for a full marathon, the Illinois Marathon, on April 28. I’ve also registered for a half Ironman, Muncie, on July 7. I absolutely must figure out the head game thing in the next 6 months, or I’ll never finish either of those events.