My Friend's First Half Marathon

I took great pleasure in having the honor of running with my friend as she completed her first half-marathon in downtown Greenville this Saturday. Completely by chance, Caitlin and I reconnected after she saw my facebook post that I was running "10 miles" as my status update on facebook. Caitlin and I were rowing teammates at Clemson 4 years ago. We spent a great deal of time together suffering thru morning erg workouts before daylight and then splintering thru an additional afternoon row on Lake Hartwell. Even though we had not talked in some time, conversation came with ease as friends do, picking up right where they have left off. Sure, I would join her in her first half marathon since her training partners had bailed for one reason or another.

Her goal: "Weinacker, I'm going on a really long run today".....this is her mentality. PERFECT. Her pace: "Consistent".

Well, it just so happens that we were running in the Sphinx Half Marathon, and that 1,500 of her "friends" would be joining us on a rolling course all along downtown Greenville ending at homeplate in the Greenville Drive Baseball Stadium. I'm not going to lie, I did not register, I was a "ghost runner", carrying my own energy gels and water. Kind of fitting to be a ghost for the day since it was after all, Halloween.

Race Start: 8:40a.m. We started almost at the very front for kicks. Todd Bice, tapering for IM Florida would be joining us for 10miles of the course. Before we knew it, we were off, shedding miles very quickly. Caitlin eventually settled into a good, consistent pace, HER pace, based on perceived exertion, no fancy smancy Garmin watch or HR monitor, just an inate sense of smarts built in. In typical Todd fashion, he had both Caitlin and I laughing. He took shortcuts to the amazement of other runners who did not realize he was just jogging along, not registered. He even took a mile shortcut as Caitlin and I made a loop. And, to top it off, as Caitlin and I rounded the halfway point, there was Todd off the course holding up a sign and yelling at us; "YOU ARE AWESOME!!", the sign said. He had joined a group of spectators cheering for a friend.

In all seriousness, it was a great "long run". Caitlin stuck to the game plan, did not break out of the gate steaming mad, but paced herself throughout the undulating course. Rowing seemed to be the topic of the day. Another former Clemson rower, who we did not know, recognized Caitlin's shirt that said rowing and cheered for her. All along the course, friends of a former rower held up large poster signs, and to top it off, my former freshmen teammate, Lindsay "Z" Decken, an accomplished runner herself, was spotted with a mile to go cheering on the runners. I think everyone in the Upstate knows someone who rows or was a rower at some point! Kind of like when you get a new car and you suddenly notice everyone driving that car :)

What a great day in G-vegas with the fall weather and SPOOKtacular race!

Distance: 13.1

Avg. pace: 10:11

Avg. HR: Zone 1, 136bpm