Not Quite Nike's Breaking2...

Read any running news lately and you will find a reference to Nike’s epic quest to break the 2 hour marathon barrier - Breaking2.  Almost accomplished by Eliud Kipchoge with a 2:00:25, there is a close relationship to my own, much less impressive, attempt to break two hours for the half marathon.  

 

Four years ago was the last time I raced a half marathon.  I ran a 2:00:29 and while it was a PR, I was still 30 seconds from my goal of breaking the 2 hour barrier.  Later that same year, I DNF’d at a marathon at mile 20.  The only marathon I haven’t completed.  Both became failures in my head and it took me many years and a complete hiatus from running (for about 18 months) to overcome that defeat.  

 

Mid hiatus, I remember sitting in my living room telling my husband that I needed to quit running completely.  At the time, I was hanging onto about 10-12 miles a week, desperately trying to get my groove back and only succeeding at feeling horribly about myself.  I didn’t run a step for the next 4 months.  I did Yoga, walked my dog, played with my kids, but no running.  

 

Eventually, I picked up running a bit here and there, a couple miles at most. Then, on June 18-19th, my husband ran the Mohican 100, a 100 mile foot race through Mohican State Park in Ohio.  He was well trained for a marathon, but only modestly trained for a 100 miler.  This was his first 100 miler and the passion and excitement I saw in him as he ventured into that race was inspiring.  He didn’t let fear of failure stop him from going for his goal.  Hello wake-up call!

 

For years, I had running goals that I dreamt about obsessively but have been too afraid to go after because I thought of myself as a failure.  It turns out that my failure was letting fear make that decision for me.   Kenny's example lit a fire under me that weekend, a fire that shone a light into the dark corners and let me see the boogie monster wasn't so scary after all.

 

Fast forward a year and you will find Kenny and I enjoying a great weekend together in San Diego about to run the San Diego Rock n Roll Half Marathon.  I am in the best shape of my life, fresh of my fabulous Whiskey Basin 57K and trying to stay warm while we eat dinner (Do you know how much warmer Phoenix is than San Diego in June?) and ready to go for Breaking2 once again.

 

 

Yep - that's me practically hugging the heater, in June, when it's 70 degrees out...

Sunday morning dawned overcast and chilly, perfect weather for running.  I toed the starting line, my corral was released, and I was off.  I needed to average 9:08 min/mile to beat two hours so my plan was to start out at about 9:15’s for the first couple miles while I warmed up and then elevate it from there.  Mile 1 came - pace 8:21 min/mile.  Oops - slow it down girl  After that little mistake, I settled into a consistent 8:45-8:55 pace and felt great.  Running was smooth, my body felt strong, breathing easy.  I got this!  I was on pace to run a 1:56-1:57 at this point and was starting to get excited.  

 

Mile 10 - the wheels fell off.  My stomach revolted.  For the last 5K, it was all I could do to keep from vomiting on my friendly neighboring runners.  My pace slowed and I started to fear I wasn’t going to make my goal as I watched my cushion get thinner and thinner.  Heartsick, I remembered that I couldn’t let fear of failure stop me from giving it my best.  So I pushed on and reminded myself that I’ve had worse hangovers that lasted all day.  I just had hold it together for less than 30 more minutes.  

 

I crested the last little hill (though it seemed huge at the time) and the last quarter mile was all down hill.  I let loose, opened up my stride and went for it.  Finishing time of 1:59:25 seconds.  I walked through the finishing chute, a little dazed, looking for Kenny and when I saw him, I just nodded.  He smiled and I knew he was as proud of me as I was.

 

The proud couple at our ghetto campsite....that's a whole other story

 The day was a superb accomplishment and a step closer to ridding myself of my fear althogether.  I set a PR, broke 2 hours and saw pride in my husband's eyes.  In that moment, I couldn’t have asked for anything more.