You didn't see this coming did you? Me either! On the way to the PSV game on October 7, we learned that the Eindhoven Half was scheduled one week later on the 14th. Now, both Jeff and I had been running this fall about 5 miles 3-4 times per week, so it wasn't completely stupid to consider the race. Next thing I know, Jeff has registered us both and talked me into riding my Dutch bike to the start!
There are no pictures, but my muscles will remember this day for a long time to come. This is also why I vow to never run another race without training properly. For this race, I did realize that there were no PRs to be had and I should focus on just crossing the finish line. I have said this many times before, but this time I meant it. I did the run 9 minutes and then walk 1 minute trick which is all that allowed me to finish probably. This plan caused me to have to wear a watch and through the course, I was amazed to see that I wasn't doing half bad.
Then, I came to the first of the three finishes! The course runs you in a large loop around town and then finishes in the city center with several zigs and zags through a very packed crowd. The first of these was down a cool street with lots of bars and a ton of spectators drinking beer and cheering you on. I was listening to Tom Petty's American Girl and I was absolutely sure that this much energy must mean that this is the finishing shoot! And they were all cheering this American girl as I did my best sprint through the crowds only to find... more road around the corner! Rats! That hurt my body and my pride!
I continued to trot through town and came up to another straight-away with a big balloon banner in the distance - just like the ones in the Tour de France. This MUST be it. I silently cussed whomever designed this course for finishing on one of the 3 hills in all of Holland, but gritted my teeth and even passed a few people as the after burners kicked in on my way to the top. Of course, this also was not really the finish...
By this time I am seriously dejected. Clearly I had gotten confused with all the math of converting from kilometers to miles in my head, but I was still on track to finish in about 2.5 hours - not bad for a run/walk and no real training. Eventually the third and final finish line appeared. The finishers shoot was also stubbornly long, so when I found a bench, I sat right down - big mistake. Jeff got my attention and somehow convinced me to get up and walk out of the shoot to join him. I promise, I have never hurt this much after a race, ever!
I did buy in to the idea that a couple of miles on the bike wouldn't be a bad warm up for the race. I don't normally warm up, so this was already against my better judgement. I think I must have totally blocked the entire idea of the return trip? We did make it home and I felt quite good about the entire ordeal until I read the race details the next day.
Jeff's stats: Time: 1:48:57 Age group place: 281/660 A good performance.
Emily's stats: Time: 2:33:36 Age group place: 269/273 Seriously! I beat 4 women :)
There are only a few possible conclusions: 1) Cycling is such an excellent way to cross train for running that anyone living in Holland has an advantage over everyone else but the Kenyans. 2) The weather in Holland really isn't that good, so no one would ever commit to walking a half marathon since 9 days out of 10 they would be walking in the rain. 3) I am really out of shape!
