race recap: 2011 United States Air Force Half Marathon

On September 17th, Team PIP rolled out of bed much earlier than normal on a Saturday to take on another challenge: the 2011 United States Air Force Half Marathon.

After my pre-race shower (yes I know it’s counterproductive!), we took advantage of the complimentary hotel breakfast items at 6:30AM. Normally I won’t eat anything but bananas before a race. But I took a chance on my own gluten-free Udi’s whole wheat bread I brought with me and snagged some peanut butter from the breakfast bar. While I wondered why I didn’t eat that combo more often, Hans rocked breakfast number one (he went back for seconds while I was running – more on this in the follow up post!)

We were instructed to arrive at Wright Patterson Air Force Base at least 90 minutes before our race start time. While the full marathon and the 10K started at 7:30AM, the half marathon started at 8:30AM. 13.1 miles FTW!

You can see the headlights on the cars in line to get to the parking fields. Normally, it would take less than five minutes to get from our hotel to the base. That morning, we left our hotel at 6:40AM and parked around 7:25AM. The weather was perfect for running: partly cloudy and in the 50s. Of course, I was freezing on our walk to the Air Force Museum – the starting point of the race.

We past a park full of statues and memorials to servicemen and women past, present and future.

…and headed into the lobby of the museum where I did my best to keep warm and not lose it while standing in the line for the ladies room. Screw you port-a-potties!

Around 8:15AM, I gathered my courage and the last bit of warmth and headed towards the start line.

In actuality, it was Hans that placed me at the starting line. My anxiety was at an all time high for a race. That calmness I had felt before my last 5K was no where to be found. I would have killed for a Xanax, but all I had was a banana. I was hungry for something with no interest to eat, but I forced down about half before giving the rest to Hans. I mustered some confidence for this pre-race shot.

Thank the Lord that the sun was finally out behind those clouds! I was able to give Hans my hoodie right before we departed as it hit a temperature where I would be comfortable at for 13 miles. And then all of a sudden, a gun went off and that crowd started inching closer. I lined myself up between the 2:20 and 2:30 pace signs, gave Hans a quick kiss and got running.

The first half of the race was pretty uneventful. I  kept my run .2 mile/walk .05 plan making sure to not run too fast early on in the race. We ran through the base, passing residential areas, the tennis club, some hangers, the chapel and the golf course (where I offered to join someone’s foursome).

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I chomped away on my first blueberry pomegranate Gu Chomp at 3.5 without issue and I kept on. The mental chatter continued but I told myself to ignore it and to settle into my race. I looked at my Garmin at 6.4 miles to see I was at 1:08 – which was my exact previous time for a 10K. The course was as flat as a pancake, the sun was out, the wind was hardly there – life was good considering I still had half a half to run.

AND THEN MILE SEVEN HAPPENED.

The beginning of seven was supposed to start with a Gu Chomp. As I came on the mile marker, the water stop surprised me right before it. I did the usual: grab two cups, run past the stop then stop to walk and drink the water, but decided to start running again and take my Chomp at 7.25.

But as I got going, the woman that was about 5 feet in front of me FACEPLANTED into the road. I had little time to attempt to jump her, but was unsuccessful. In my jump, both of my feet caught her rear end/hip areas and I tumbled over her. Luckily, I used my theater management degree – thanks stage combat! – and tuck and rolled minimizing body point contact upon hitting the ground. All of a sudden, I was on my back. And NOT running.

As I got up, the runner I tripped over apologized and we both got running again – but I went back to not running quickly. I couldn’t help but think “did that really just happen?” But instead of getting pissed, I took it as a sign to slow down, take a break and refocus so I could finish strong. As I chomped on my Chomp, I powerwalked the hell out of Mile 7, returning to the run/walk plan at the eight mile mark. In hindsight, me tripping over that lady was my saving grace.

Miles 8 through 13 flew by. Once I got to ten, I started questioning my ability to do basic math – I couldn’t believe that I “only” had a 5K left! I took my final Chomp at 10.5 and was getting excited that an exceptional PR was still possible.

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I turned the final corner at the mile 13 mile marker to see family and friends of runners smiling at all the runners down the stretch to the finish line. If I knew my husband, he’d be as close to the finish line as he could get. I high fived a Navy officer right before I heard “Leesha! Leesha!” I saw my redhead and I yelled “I love you Hans” before throwing my hands over my head & crossing the finish line with a clock time right at 2:28 – I had myself a new PR!

I was screaming, hollering and jumping around – as this video will prove. A higher up Air Force officer saw me and was smiling. He congratulated me and I told him I had just blew my old PR out of the water by 19 minutes. He was so impressed he gave me a high five in addition to the handshake!

I completely forgot to hit stop on my Garmin until after I had gotten my medal!

Thank goodness for official results:

Two frickin’ twenty-five thirty-six?! Are you kidding me?! After getting through the food tent, I found Hans immediately where we began the photo celebration:

We took a few self portraits before I collapsed into a pile of hot mess:

After some serious stretching and chugging some water, we headed back towards the museum. On our way, I found Kristen – the pace leader for the 2:20 group.

She didn’t know, but girl kept me moving and was a huge reason why had an even bigger smile on my face than expected. Big props to her for doing a great job that morning. What a way to start a beautiful fall day!

LONG STORY SHORT: In my rush of packing on Friday morning, it turns out I had also packed the self-doubt that I thought I had hid away in a closet back at home. It found itself attached to my fuel belt as I started on Saturday morning. I tried to shake it off during those first six miles with little luck. So imagine my surprise that a tumble over a complete stranger was the thing that made me realize that I also brought my confidence with me as well. Tripping over the lady in the bright yellow shirt made me realize that falling wasn’t the worst thing that could happen that morning. Not giving it my all was. And that wasn’t an option. My final time proved that I had it in me all along. And that I might even do it again…