Scott Keate - Strider's Half Marathon

1st Overall, 1st Masters, and 1:08:45

It's quite common for me to set a target goal and fall short, or to have an expectation and not quite hit the mark.  This race was one of those rare exceptions where I exceeded my expectations.  It had been a long time since I'd run a solid half marathon and I didn't know what to expect.  My training has been good the last few weeks and last Saturday's tempo run did boost my confidence, but I was still a bit nervous for the race.

I had just enough time to get in a two-mile warm up with the pre-race pit stop before it was time to go.  I was a little surprised to see so many tough runners at the start of the race and knew that it would take a solid effort to just keep up with the group.

At the starting line Jed Johanson asked me what my goal for the race was and I told him under 1:12 and that 1:10 would be awesome.  My plan was simple run as fast as I felt to run, to pay attention to the other runners around me, and to choose to focus on positive thoughts when the doubts and fears crept in.

Fritz jump out to an early lead, which wasn't surprising at all, and I pulled up along side of him.  My intention for the race was to be conservative early on even with the aided miles to ensure I had something left for the honest finish.  I thought to myself, "Wasn't your plan to take it easy?" When we came through the first mile at 5:13 and it felt nice and easy, I relaxed with my position and decided not to worry about what place I was in as long as it felt like the right pace for me.  I enjoyed running next to Fritz. He took the lead and I drafted for a few minutes.  We traded once or twice before a solid group of guys pulled up behind us.  I didn't know how many were there during the race but afterward learned that they were Bryant, Jace, Seth, and Ben.  Ben made a strong move to catch Fritz and me and took the lead for the better part of a mile.  I was content to draft for a while.  I took the lead again until we hit the end of the canyon.

After the right turn in Huntsville, Bryant made as strong move to take the lead.  I thought "well there he goes," but decided to pick up the pace a bit myself and slowly reeled him back in.  I ran just behind him for a mile or so and then asked if he wanted me to take the lead. He looked at me quizzically and said, "If you want?"  I didn't lead for long and he pulled up along side of me and we ran shoulder to shoulder for a while.  I could still hear others close behind us until we hit the 8-mile mark and then I could tell we had started to pull away.

This was a cool period of the race.  I was a little intimidated to be running next to Bryant, but I kept checking in with how I was feeling and observing what I was experiencing from Bryant and knew that I wasn't working any harder than he was.  This gave me the courage to just stick with it.  I was feeling surprisingly good.  I knew Bryant was still building back up after an injury and lower milage--certainly not his normal fire-breathing dragon self.

Bryant made several moves during this stretch of the race to break me, but I went with him on every one.  My mind bounced back and forth between thoughts like "taking 2nd place to Bryant wouldn't be so bad" and "you don't have any reason to slow down right now. You're feeling just as good or better than he is." Every once in a while I got the urge to go on the attack and see if I could break him, but felt like it would be better for me to simply sync up with his energy--choosing to be inspired by the fact that I was running next to him rather than intimidated.  It felt cooperative and competitive at the same time.

It wasn't until we hit the 10-mile mark that I had my first thought that perhaps I could win this thing.  The idea of winning my first race as a 40-year-old masters was intriguing.  I figured I had a good chance to beat Bryant if I could just keep up with him until the finish.  I was grateful that Bryant didn't lay down the hammer earlier and I was content to simply keep a consistent effort.  The pace picked up a bit the last mile but not by much.  I decided to simply draft behind Bryant and not let him get away.  There was a slight head wind and I could tell that I was benefitting by drafting. 

We hit the 13 mile mark and made one last turn for the finish line.  I was right on Bryant's heals. I was surprised with the energy I had left and felt like I was finishing a 5K.  It was really fun to win the race.  I felt a strong sense of gratitude for Bryant and how hard he runs and races.  It was fun to watch the other guys finish and experience that cool feeling of being completely drained and humbled by the mental and physical exertion.

I enjoyed cooling down with Fritz, Josh, Ben, Seth, and Jace.  I ran 5 miles with Fritz and Josh.

I was grateful for the race directors allowing me to double dip in the winnings (1st overall and 1st masters).  The money lasted about 5 hours before my wife spent it all and a grundle more on furniture and decorations for our home :-)

Special thanks to Ben and Spencer for their company and ride to and from the race.

Here are my spilts: 5:13, 5:19, 5:15, 5:06, 5:09, 5:14, 5:10, 5:14, 5:21, 5:18, 5:19, 5:18, 5:14, 0:28