I clearly cashed in all my good luck at the Oakland Half Marathon.  The Benicia Run for Education felt like the third trip to one of those ATMs with a $5 service charge.  Or like rolling snake eyes in a crappy game of craps.  Or some other stupid gambling analogy.  Let’s just say it didn’t go well.

My oh-so-wise inner runner is now reminding me of my awesome training regime:

1) I wanted to give myself plenty of rest after the Oakland half two weeks ago and was at a conference this past week for work.  This meant I did very little running and lots of eating.  I somehow managed to put on almost 5 pounds in two weeks, and I’d bet my last chip it wasn’t muscle.

2) I had two glasses of wine Friday night.  Doesn’t sound like much, but that was enough to brew up a hangover.  To overcome said hangover I drank two entire glasses of water.  Eight glasses are for pansies.

3) I ate a nutrient rich dinner of movie theater popcorn last night.

4) I washed that popcorn down with a Coke and was up until about 1:00 am.

5) Oh right.  It’s been a couple months since I did any speed work.

I set a goal of 51 minutes based on my recent 5K and half marathon times, and told myself I would be happy with anything under 52.  I knew the deck was stacked against me right off the start line.  I ran the first mile in 8:15 and it felt too difficult.  I hung onto that pace for 3 miles before hitting a wall.

My pace began to decline rapidly.  I kissed 51 minutes goodbye.  Every incline, however gradual, felt like a mountain.  I lost sight of my surroundings.  I stopped thinking about the tangents.  All my focus turned inward, onto how awful I felt and how awful the race was going.  I completely gave up.  I let go of 52 minutes and started to fear I would miss 53.

I played leap frog with two other women throughout the second half of the race.  As we neared the finish I was tied among the three of us for second.  The other lady started to pull away and I thought, “Great.  I have nothing left.  Just let her have it.”  Somehow I managed to stay close and barely pass her with one final surge in the last 50 meters.  I was happy to pass her, but disappointed I wasn’t well in front of her to begin with.

This is technically my fourth race in the Run for the Bling of it! challenge.  I am choosing, however, not to post a picture of my T-shirt.  Medals, also known as actual bling, were awarded to the top 3 in each age group.  I came in fourth and I’m bitter about it!

The race directors took pity on me and cut a quarter mile off the course, enabling a finish time of 50:05 (give or take a few seconds).  If I do the math (and you know I do), I should have finished in 52:07.  Okay, maybe it wasn’t a total fail…