My Tom Walker Memorial Half-Marathon Run

Earlier today I ran the Florida Track Club's Tom Walker Memorial Half-Marathon. It was the first public running race I participated in since my unpleasant three-mile Melon Run (also put on by the Florida Track Club) on July 4. I had decided to run only in longer events and not place any store on the race administrators' ability to accurately record and post my finishing time and placing relative to the other runners. This local half-marathon event seemed tailor-made to prepare me for the upcoming marathon races I plan to enter.

This morning at sunrise, just before the race's start, the weather was so cold at 39 degrees (remember: I'm a Floridian) that I seriously considered just turning around and getting back in my car and driving home. But I stuck it out and shivered for the ten-to-fifteen minutes before the race's start. I wasn't going to make the same mistake I made earlier this year at the Five Points Half-Marathon and overdress; I wore shorts and a "technical" running T-shirt. Anything more would have created stifling conditions for me as the run wore on. Oh, and to avoid the pointless crowding and jockeying for position among runners at the race's start, I simply resolved that issue by making sure I was initially behind EVERYONE. Then I began my own personal timing of my run as I crossed the starting line a few seconds into the race.

The Tom Walker Memorial Half-Marathon has a distinctive course. On one hand, the entire race takes place away from streets, going completely down a pleasant nature trail on the southeast side of Gainesville. On the other hand, and unlike with other races of this type, the trail in question, the Hawthorne Trail, is paved, wide, and smooth (with no motorized traffic permitted). It was a joy to run down it. Now that I know of its existence, I'll have to take others in my family down it sometimes for bicycling.

Initially, I had planned to follow Jeff Galloway's walk/run principles during this race, but the discomfort of the cold made me want to keep running (to stay warm). Instead, I decided to listen to my body and walk whenever I felt the need. I never did. What began as an intended easy-paced workout ended in a lengthy near-sprint at the end. I finished with a time (by my watch) of 2:01:41. The official time will probably show me going a little over 2:02. That doesn't place me anywhere near the elite runners, even among those within my own age grouping (50-54). But I feel quite satisfied with my performance. And although I didn't employ "walk/run" during the race, this strategy, which I used in my training throughout the long, hot summer, had built up my endurance drastically to the point where I didn't need to use it, at least for this 13.1 mile race. A full 26.2 mile marathon is a different matter entirely, though.

The next race I am considering running in is the marathon taking place in Jacksonville on Sunday, December 19. Alas, there seem to be a few glitches with this plan regarding the logistics of getting there in shape for the race: I have to work at least until 11 PM on the Saturday before and may possibly have to stay even later due to the heavy Christmas parcel season. And the race, I think, starts at 7 the next morning. So I'll have to think about this a little before I commit to paying the entry fee (which now stands at $65).