Ben and Jenelle DOT COM

What a ride. I successfully set a new personal record for the half marathon this morning. Here’s a mile-by-mile breakdown:

Getting Started
The weather was overcast, but plenty warm. As I finished stretching and prepared to set out, I noticed a few drops of rain. I headed back upstairs and got my rain jacket. I took a swig of raspberry lemonade-flavored Gatorade before setting my forerunner at 9:08 / mile — at this pace, I’ll finish in 01:59:39. Off I go!

Mile 1 – 8:35 (0:33 ahead of the pacer overall)
As the few drops of rain turned into a small drizzle, I felt okay out of the blocks. I’m sufficiently warmed up, and I don’t feel too hot or too cold. So far, so good.

Mile 2 – 9:31 (0:10 ahead overall)
Right before reaching the two-mile mark, my forerunner skipped a beat. One moment, I was almost 400 feet ahead, and the next, I was only 50 feet ahead. The problem is that the excessive clouds and rain are keeping the forerunner from being as accurate as it usually is. I’m fairly certain that I ran this mile faster than 9:31. These kinds of tracking errors usually work themselves out over time, so I’m not worried. I’m still ahead, and I still feel great.

Mile 3 – 8:48 (0:30 ahead)
The rain is getting a bit heavier now, but nothing close to slowing me down. My head is getting a tiny bit wet, but my rain jacket keeps me plenty dry. It also helps that I’m wearing my Nike “dri-fit” running shorts. Onward!

Mile 4 – 8:39 (0:59 ahead)
The downpour arrived! As I started to feel the moisture seeping in to my shoes and my hair getting wet, I suddenly remembered that my rain jacket has a hood zipped inside the collar. My pace dropped just a tiny bit as I pulled the hood out of the collar, put it on, and adjusted it to keep it from falling off. I’m still feeling pretty good with almost one third of my run completed.

Mile 5 – 8:29 (1:38 ahead)
One minute it was pouring, the next it was just a drizzle, and the next it was pouring again. Now perfectly comfortable in my rain jacket AND hood, I didn’t have any problems. I was thrilled that I was building a signifant lead over my virtual pacer without any fatigue. However, was I going too fast? Most of the run was still in front of me. I didn’t feel like I’m going too fast. Hmmm…..

Mile 6 – 9:00 (1:46 ahead)
The rain eased up at this point — yay. I wasn’t feeling tired at all. Double yay.

Mile 7 – 8:57 (1:57 ahead)
The halfway point! My forerunner showed me reach 6.55 miles (half of 13.1) at about 58 minutes. I was doing great, and the weather continued to improve.

Mile 8 – 8:46 (2:19 ahead)
No signs of trouble at all. My lead was about a quarter of a mile. I started to wonder if I was going to burn myself out before the finish. The question I began asking myself was: Should I try and build more of a lead while I feel okay, or should I just keep the pace steady?

Mile 9 – 10:32 (0:55 ahead)
What happened here? The forerunner hiccuped again. One moment, I was ahead by 0.27 miles, and the next, I was only ahead by about 350 feet (about 0.06 miles). This mile did not feel significantly slower than any of the others. It’s possible that some of the earlier miles were reported a little quicker than I actually ran them. Regardless of the reason for this setback, I was still ahead of the pacer, and nothing was going to slow me down!

Mile 10 – 8:51 (1:12 ahead)
Back on track. I started to feel a little bit tired at this point, but I was still able to keep the pace.

Mile 11 – 9:16 (1:04 ahead)
A little bit of slow-down, but nothing to worry about.

Mile 12 – 9:04 (1:08 ahead)
Mile 13 – 9:13 (1:04 ahead)
The fatigue slowly built up during these two miles. This is to be expected after running so long at a faster-than-usual pace. The good news — no blisters or sharp pain in any of my joints. I’m guessing that a lot of family members might be worried about my knees, as most of my running is done on either concrete or asphalt. Let me all assure you that my knees feel great. Never been better.

The Finish – 1:00 (0:58 ahead)
The final tenth of a mile was a little bit slower than the pacer, but not by much. I finished the half marathon in one hour, 58 minutes, and 41 seconds.

What’s Next?
I’ll be taking it easy for the rest of the week. The following week is the first week of my 18-week program to train for the Milwaukee Lakefront Marathon on October 2. Just to make sure I’m fit for such a task, I have a doctor’s appointment set up for this week so that my physician can give me the green light.

Time will tell how the training goes, but I’m setting an agressive goal. I’m going to try to run the marathon at the same pace at which I just ran a half marathon. This would put me across the finish line in four hours or less. Can I do it? Only with encouragement from you, my loyal blog readers.

Here are six photos from last weekend’s Mother’s Day celebration.

Happy Birthday, Todd!

When the blog switched to its new look, I updated my personal best for the 15K (about 9.33 miles). I trekked out on Sunday morning and finished in one hour, 21 minutes, 33 seconds. Here’s the breakdown:

Mile 1 – 8:24
Mile 2 – 8:53
Mile 3 – 8:29
Mile 4 – 8:53
Mile 5 – 8:20
Mile 6 – 8:53
Mile 7 – 8:48
Mile 8 – 9:08
Mile 9 – 8:45
Finish – 2:56 (8:36 pace)

Average pace – about 8:44 / mile

There was a light but ever-present wind that was responsible for the 20-25 second fluctuations between lap times in the first six miles. Had there been no wind at all, my laps would have been much more consistent.

I’m probably going to run long this weekend — perhaps even further than the 25K that I ran on April 24. The weather is supposed to be warm with a bit of rain, which doesn’t scare me all that much. 🙂

I’m thrilled that I have almost five months to continue training for the marathon. I don’t want to jinx it, but I think that eclipsing the four-hour mark on October 2 is an attainable goal.

On Friday, I walked into the Burger King near the mall to buy a gift certificate for a friend of mine who really likes Burger King. I wasn’t sure if Burger King had gift “certificates” or gift “cards” until I read a sign near the register:

$5.00 GIFT CERTIFICATE if we fail to issue you a receipt

Ah, certificates it is. I patiently waited in line until I reached the front. Here’s the conversation that ensued with the cashier:

Me: “Hi, I’d like two $5 gift certificates please.”
Her: (matter-of-factly) “We don’t sell those.”
Me: “Er, uh… you don’t?”
Her: “No, we don’t.”
Me: “Um… are you sure?”
Her: “Yup.”
Me: (looking right at the sign) “Even though there’s a sign that mentions them right there?”
Her: “Yup.”
Me: “Hmmmm… Well, thanks for your time.”

Anyone out there ever possess a Burger King gift certificate? If so, how’d you get it? Did you buy it, or did the cashier fail to issue you a receipt?

Jenelle here…

I’m in San Francisco this week attending a conference for work. It’s good to be back on Pacific time. This is a fun city — but definitely a workout if you want to walk anywhere!

My flight to San Francisco was pretty uneventful, and after getting my bags, I took a cab to the airport. I’m staying at the Fairmont, high up on the top of Nob Hill. It’s across the street from this enormous cathedral reminiscent of the Notre Dame. Anyway, the staff here is very friendly and polite. After handing off my suitcase to the valet, I walked into the hotel to look for the front desk to check in.

As I was walking over, a man in the employee uniform walked up to me and said, “Ms. Isaacson?” And, I said “yes.” And he said something along the lines of welcome to the Fairmont, let me help you get checked in. And he ushered me up to the front of the line and introduced me to the guy behind the desk to check me in. So I asked him how he knew who I was, and all he said was that he knows everything.

So, the question is — how did this employee at the Fairmont know who I was? I didn’t have a nametag of any sort on me, and my luggage tag had my maiden name on it, and I didn’t use a credit card at the airport or in the cab. Alas, such are the mysteries of the hospitality industry. I’m still going to be scratching my head over this one for a while til I figure it out.