Despite the excellent weather (mild and sunny), with the tough hilly course and being on the same day as DRC's Tal Morrison 15K, the turnout for today's Benbrook Half was limited to locals and runners who like hills.
I had a pretty good race - all things considered - and completed the 13.1 mile course (13.32 per GPS) in 1:57:46 for a 8:59/mi pace (8:50.5/mi per GPS). I wasn't expecting to PR and a sub-9:00/mi pace is very respectable (for me) for this course, but I think I could have done a little better if I didn't have the calf issue (see below). My time placed me exactly in the middle of pack - 123rd out of 246 finishers - and 14th out of 16 in my age group (the competition was tough today).
The run started off uneventfully. I tried to keep a slower pace to not burn out before the big hill, and everything seemed to going well, albeit at an unexciting speed. However, right around Mile 3.5, I felt a sharp pain in the muscle just below my left calf. "Oh, not again" ... I pictured walking back to the start as I did last year. It was very strange - it didn't occur on a hill, I hadn't slipped or landed funny - and very painful.
I stopped by the side of the road and massaged the area for a few minutes and then started walking to see if the pain would subside. My leg/calf did feel a little better as I walked (the sensation moving from sharp pain to dull ache) and a few of my fellow "Ranch View Gang" members passed me with quick hellos. A couple more minutes of hobbling and I felt good enough to try running again as Roberto, Leah, and Randy approached. I ran with them for the next couple miles and really appreciated their company as we approached "Nice Hill".
For those of you who are not familiar with the park roads of Lake Benbrook, in addition to the smaller hills and banked curves in the road, there is a steep hill with a 12.5%+ grade about 5 1/2 miles from the starting line. Luckily, it's only about a 1/4 of a mile from base to top so the trek was over in less than 3 minutes, but with a ~75 foot climb, it certainly felt like it took longer than that. Anyway, as we approached the "summit", waiting for us in blue spray paint were the words "Nice Hill" and smiley face right below.
After going down the back side of the hill, I felt a lot better and started speeding up. Grabbed some water at the turnaround/aid-station started heading back to the start/finish line.
I was pleasantly surprised to find Nice Hill wasn't too bad (at least no worse) the second time and I kept a solid 8:15-8:30/mi pace and took a short gel/water/walk break at Mile 8.75. I grabbed some more water and sports drink at the final (through Mile 11) aid-station and tried to push hard for the finish, but I was definitely running out of gas at the end and averaged a 9:15+/mi pace for the final miles. Guess I need to work on my endurance a bit more - in my defense, this was my longest run since the DRC Half almost 3 months ago. So, all-in-all, I am very happy with my performance.
Next up, the Cowtown Half!
MotionBased: http://trail.motionbased.com/trail/activity/7545392
Age group results: http://www.runtimeracingservices.com/results/LAKEBENBROOKHALF(AG).HTM
[Update: I'm thinking I pinched a nerve or something freaky like that at Mile 3.5 because the pain (which was horrible right after the run and later Saturday night) was mostly gone by Sunday afternoon - just sore legs/quads from the hills - and completely gone on Monday. So, anyway, everything appears to be A-Okay. Phew ...]
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