My First Half Marathon- Deckers Creek Trail Half in Morgantown, WV June 3, 2017

First 5k in $15 shoes and all the clothes
I could find because it was cold

Picture from TriState Racer of starting line 

I began running at 51 years old, in January of 2015. Co-workers had talked me into a Komen Race For The Cure 5k coming up in May. Before then I was a hiker and swore that I would never be a runner. I down loaded the Couch to 5k app and used it from January until March when I ran a small 5k in 27 minutes. I swore that I hated every minute of that winter, I was running in hikers around a field at my home. The only reason I stuck to it longer than a day was because my wife is a 14 year survivor of breast cancer and I really wanted to do this race. After the March 5k I found out that I hate stress fractures in both knees from lousy shoes and preparation. So I took a couple weeks off, bought some Hoka Bondi 4 shoes and came back for the Komen  race which I finished in 25 minutes.
          So 2 1/2 years , 20+ 5k's, and a few 5 mile and 10 k's later, I decided to try a half marathon. I wrote this because I read dozens of "my first half marathon" posts to help me prepare for this. Plus, I enjoyed every mile and I want to record it before I forget, plus, may something here will help others.



Deckers Creek Trail Half Marathon Recap

I'm not sure now what prompted me to signup for a half marathon, I was content doing quite a few 5k's and an occasional 10k or five miler. I had also ran the Crazy Eights 8k in Kingsport, Tennessee with over 3000 others participants. What I do remember is when searching for a half, I ran across the Deckers Creek Trail description which stated that it is a mostly downhill course. As I read further, there are 10.1 miles on a packed limestone trail, in the woods  and a final three miles on pavement, in town and no shade. (event website) It was appealing in many ways, so I signed up early and began thinking about a training plan.
          My longest run at this point was 6.2 miles. Typically, I was running 2-3 miles, 2-3 times per week. I was placing top three in my age group at almost every 5k at a time around 24-25 minutes. There are literally hundreds of training plans, but the common thread was to run 2-3 short runs per week and one long run, gradually increasing the long run to ten miles or so. So, that is basically what I tried to do. Over three months I increased all of my short runs to a minimum of four miles and started a long run each week of 5, 6 or 7 miles. This worked fine until a month before the half when I got a sore knee. Sore knees are like training plans, there are hundreds of causes, explanations and no easy way to decide how to respond. I wasn't much of a stretcher, but did try to increase that and took a week off. Just as I was trying to get back on track with some easy runs, I got an ugly stomach virus which knocked another week off preparation. So, two weeks away from the half, my longest run had been 8.6 miles. But, I had set consecutive personal bests for 5k's and finished my third Komen 5k in 23:50 and second in my age division.
        On June 2, I made the three hour drive to Morgantown and checked into a hotel that was two blocks from the event site. I ate a pasta dinner as recommended by so many runners and settled in for the night. I don't use a lot of gear and with water stops every couple of miles, I didn't see a need to carry water. I only carry a TomTom running watch and for this run I carried two Gu Energy Gels that I had experimented with before and liked. I always wear Hoka Running shoes and now am using the Bondi 5 and just purchased the Challenger ATR 3.
           At 6:30, I was at the very organized packet pickup, saw the buses for transportation and walked back to the hotel. At 7:15 AM I was on a bus and headed for what seemed like a long, long ride to the trail head. We were dropped off and I had ample opportunity to use the porta johns and walk the final couple hundred yards to the start. They start in two waves, one at 8:30 and another at 8:45. Most advice I read said to not set a goal for your first long distance race, so I only had a desire to finish and in less the 2 hours 30 minutes. The gun went off and we started, stalled, started again and finally got moving. I started my watch at the line and was within 3 seconds of my official chip time at the end. It was a little crowded at thew start
but quickly, we spread out.
         Another universal piece of advice I tried to adhere to was to pace yourself and don't take off like its a 5k. I did try to keep that in mind but the tree canopy hindered the GPS on my watch some so it was all over the place. But I learned later that I did a 9:34 mile to start and then an 8:44 and 8:52 mile. I use the TomTom app but it exports to Strava, a web based activity analysis site.
It was downhill, some suggested a 1% grade, but it was never noticeably downhill to me. What impressed me was that the miles just clicked off easily and quickly. I started running consistent 9:30 miles but I really needed to make a quick stop due to the coffee I habitually drink and never is a problem for a 3 miler. So, I started telling myself that I'll find a convenient tree or wait to mile 7 where a porta john was setup. But then I would think how my longest run before was 8.6 miles and I was feeling good, so I would wait until mile 9, but then decided I may be able to run the entire distance without walking. I was never tired or hurting at any distance. It was about mile 8 that I noticed that under two hours was possible, or would have been had I noticed a little earlier. At mile 8 I ran 10:09 then back to 9:48 and 9:58 for miles 9 and 10.

       At 10.1 miles we hit pavement and no shade, but I was surprised to find that I really felt good and clicked off a 8:51 mile and then mile 12 was 9:34 and then finished with a 8:51 mile. My official chip time was 2:02:28. No one could be more surprised than myself. I'm already thinking about next year and a sub 2 hour. I used one Gu between mile 6 and 7 where a water table was setup. I grabbed water or Gatorade at every station, because that was another consistent piece of advice. I did feel pretty sloshy at mile 9 so just sipped from then on. All running bloggers said to make sure and smile for the finish line photo, so I tried a hands up and smile but ended up looking like I had just tripped. Water and medal were waiting and I was able to walk back to the hotel, shower and get back and eat. They had a terrific meal; pita, dip, bakery muffins, pizza, cookies and much more. I never had muscle soreness, but the outside of each knee was very stiff and sore, especially after sitting for a little while. I had a three hour drive home, two grand baby ball games to attend and animals to feed before I could settle down. After two good nights sleep, even the sore knees are about straightened out.
All-in-all this was a great race and experience and I can not think how it could have been better. I am thinking about another half marathon in September, the Great Smoky Mountains Half.
       

I probably won't write much here, maybe occasionally.

Check out my other blog: West Virginia Native Wildflowers
I started this blog to photograph and record every wildflower that I could in West Virginia for one year. In that one year, I was able to find and photograph 308 wildflowers and currently am up to 352


"When your hobbies get in the way of your work - that's OK; but when your hobbies get in the way of themselves... well." - Steve Martin