Lakefair Half Marathon Race Report
At 7A.M. on Saturday, July 15th, about 400 runners congregated at the starting line of the Lakefair Half Marathon in Olympia, Washington. It was 55 degrees, not a cloud in the sky, fresh, crisp Pacific Northwest air with minimal wind. The conditions for running were in a word, perfect.
Going into the race, my goal was to qualify for the New York Marathon with a time less than 1:32 — an average 7:02 mile pace. About a month ago I ran the Tahoe Relays and ran 10.7 miles in a 6:56 pace, so I was feeling confident that this was an attainable goal. My training was originally to prepare for the Santa Rosa Marathon at the end of August. Given my general fitness levels and a realization that I could use a half marathon time to qualify, I decided to pair a qualifying half marathon race with a visit to little brother Griffey Griff rather than put all of my qualifying eggs in one full marathon basket.
The 2 weeks leading up to the race I was not feeling 100%. I rolled my ankle backpacking over 4th of July, which forced a few rest days. And on July 8th, I came down with a bout of food poisoning leaving me bedridden for 24 hours and about 7 pounds lighter. (That’s one way to get bikini-bod summer ready, amiryte? ;) ).
That said, I feel like I have been taking care of my body and have put in some solid training thanks to motivation from my Vida Coach Jacob, the Breakfast Club & That’s Fine Track Club community which is endlessly inspiring, and boo Alex who is so supportive (and very good at setting alarms).
Via scheming with Coach Jacob, the plan was to run the first 4 miles (which were at a slight incline) at about 7–7:05. The next 6 miles I aimed to keep a consistent 6:50–6:55 pace, which would set me up to let it fly the last few miles which were at a slight decline. I have only done one other half marathon, but my previous marathon experience is that I go out a little too hard (or, ambitiously/optimistically as I prefer), and then suffer the last ⅓ of the race. My goal was not to win, but to run my own race, consistently and conservatively.
Starting out the race I was at the front of the pack, and was hitting sub 6:50s, but felt like I was holding back. There was another woman running near me, and she passed me around mile 2, and though I didn’t want to let her, Coach Jacob’s voice echoed in my mind reminding me You’re not trying to compete with anyone else. Around mile 4 I caught up to her and was surprised that she was breathing quite heavily! I fell into just under a 6:40 pace that was feeling really comfortable, passed her, and kept even with a trio of middle aged men (who were wearing Ironman shwag) for the next few miles.
I felt fantastic; my breathing was even and my legs felt strong. I didn’t feel like I needed any fuel — neither calories nor water — so I was not consuming anything from the aid stations. At mile 10 was feeling like I had plenty of gas. At the start of the decline I picked up the pace to just under 6:30. At this point I had no one in front of me, which was very stressful given I didn’t know the course that well and do not have the best history of staying on course!
My worst fears came true when I was passing the waterfront around mile 12 and started to round to Marine Drive rather than finishing downtown. Luckily there was a large man in a neon shirt who was yelling at me and asking if I was participating in the marathon. I yelled back “Half!” And he yelled back “No, the marathon!” And I yelled back, “The Half!” which was a clear indicator that I should just run towards him.
I finished with a kick, a finishing time of 1:27, and to the pat on the back from my brother who said “Good job, Jacquie” once I crossed the finish line. I said, “Thanks Griff, I think I just won.” And he said, “Oh, cool.” And that was that. The prize included neither wine nor beer nor a t-shirt, so I questioned why I even ran the race… (just kidding, I just love to run!!!) Mission accomplished regarding qualifying for New York, and I subsequently treated myself to a nice latte and blueberry scone from the Bread Peddler (would recommend!). #treatYoself which is what it is really all about.
Until the Santa Rosa Marathon…
