RUNNING Against the OdDs: Millington Half Marathon Review

Running a half marathon at marathon pace is part of my marathon training. I was supposed to do it at the end of March but we canceled due to busy schedules. We did a mock training run a few weeks ago and nailed it, but it was on the track and not the same. And honestly we needed to run a little harder.

Holly, Laceys other running partner found this race put on by Run Michigan Cheap.
I didn't register, well to be honest, I forgot all about it until Lacey reminded me when I returned home from vacation. I had it in my brain, I didn't totally loose the thought, it was tucked back in my brain underneath a lot of clutter.
Even though registration didn't close out until midnight the night before I decided to just register the morning of.

CAN YOU FIND ME?

Millington Half Marathon
Date: Sunday April 9th, 8:30am
Distances: 5k, 10k and Half Marathon running events.
Weather: 60'.
EVERYONE GETS A MEDAL
REGISTRATION DAY OF: 40$
Attire: Funny Story...Saturday Lacey invited me to run after work since it was so beautiful out. About 2 miles in I see my buddy Jeff turning off a side street unto Saginaw street in downtown Holly. Directly in front of us we catch up to him and start chatting. Jeff makes me laugh without even trying. Lacey was telling him our Sunday race plans. Jeff says in response to the warm racing weather "So, what are you going to wear?" Lacey chuckled, "Funny you should ask, we were just talking about that before we ran into you." Jeff never misses an opportunity to tease me, he pipes in "If I know Anita, she will be wearing a snow suit..."
I wasn't going down that easy "Jeff, You will be happy to know I was planning on wearing shorts!"
And I did! I even wore a tank top! Those stinking hormones this week have me feeling like a hot box.
Course: "Beautiful course along the Southern Links Trailway". The trail is all paved, flat, part of the rail system.

RUNDOWN:
Goal: 8:20min/mi.
Before we even parked the car I saw this tall slender gal running. Or maybe I saw her leggings first, as they were a psychedelic mixture of oranges and yellows. They were eye catching. "Hey, That's..ahhh..ohh whats her name?" After we parked the car, registered and were walking in her direction it came to me, "DONNA" I yelled as I remembered her name at the perfect time.
I was an hour from home, doing this little race and still ran into someone I know. I couldn't get away with anything if I tried!

Donna and I

We all lined up, all three distances started together. I was one of about 50 runners. The course was marked where to turn around for each distance.
Out and Back Course.
It felt so good to be racing in shorts and a tank top.
We took off. I put my music in my ears and tuned out. I had my plan, my goal and I just needed to stay in MY HEAD. I didn't need to run to death although the first 3 miles felt like it.

The course had 3 places that I remember with the small sized water bottles set out for the runners. The course was marked perfectly.I couldn't get a proper pace due to the overcast skies. Every time I looked at my watch it had me going over a 10min/mi. When each mile beeped I was running faster than I was supposed to. This concerned me because I didn't want to burn myself out.
I ran behind this little guy with a full head of perfect white hair. I decided I would just stay behind him. One thing I noticed was he was not wearing a watch.

Marvin, my New Buddy!

I grabbed a little bottle of water, taking sips of it to bring my temp down. I think I dripped more of down my face than I got in my mouth.
By mile 5, this little guy and I had passed one another 2 times. I really didn't want the lead but I knew I had to take it and be a big girl because his pace was getting inconsistent. I thought that he might just be getting mad at me for breathing all down his back, but once I passed him that final time I never saw him again on the course.
For that matter, I hardly saw anyone until this guy blazed pass my at mile 11. I had Lacey and Holly about a half a mile ahead of me and I considered surging ahead to catch them. Even though I felt like a rockstar, I knew I couldn't catch them and I didn't want to die trying. The idea only lasted about 3 minutes before I dismissed it.
I could see the finish. After all..it was flat and forward. And Holly was waiting on the sidelines for me. Feeling good, probably better than I should have I picked it up, smiled and crossed over the finish.

They did it cross country style. No mat. We had numbers pinned to our shirts and they shouted our time off as we finished. Everything was recorded but you had to wait until they posted the times up on their website.
I really enjoyed running this race.
After I ran, I did a mile cool down and came back to see who finished. "You, you had a target on your back!" This guys says to me around the picnic table with granola bars and water. "WHO me?" I giggled. Lacey and Holly headed back to the car as I chatted it up with my new friends. Marvin, this was the guy I was following says "Once you passed me, the distance got farther and farther from you..."
Funny, this was a slow half for me. But a disciplined one. There was part of me that was down on myself for not running it harder, for Not staying with Lacey and Holly.
RUN YOUR OWN RACE. These guys made me feel better about myself and my race. It was fun knowing I was someone else's challenge. Especially when my mind was my biggest challenge.

I will definitely be doing more of these races this summer. They are perfect races for training and keeping my speed up. And...THEY ARE CHEAP!!

TIME: 1:47:54
PACE: 8:14/mi