I debated whether it would be a good idea to run the Ann Arbor Half Marathon this year since it fell a week before the Detroit Free Press Marathon – my goal race this fall. My training schedule called for a 12-mile run with half of it at marathon pace that day anyway. It would just be an extra mile and I’d aim to be smart and not “race” it. Yeah right. I decided to sign up after I received a discount code from Epic Races for participating in one of their other races. I knew I really wanted to do it since I’ll take any excuse to get back to the land of the University of Michigan and because I’ve enjoyed the race so much the last three years in a row.

I basically cancelled out the discount by opting to pay a fee to have my bib and shirt mailed to me. The half marathon requires people to do that or to attend the expo the day before the race. I was able to make it to the expo last year because I had plans to catch a concert in town and stay overnight. Otherwise, it really doesn’t make sense for me to drive an hour out to Ann Arbor then an hour back home on Saturday, then do it all over again on Sunday. I’m thankful I had the option to have my packet mailed to me.

Just like last year, I went to a concert the night before the race. This time it was in Detroit rather than Ann Arbor so I drove home afterward and probably got around 4.5 hours of sleep since I left the house by 6:00 the morning of the race. It’s the sacrifice I’m willing to make when I love both music and running and want to do it all!

One bonus for having the race on a Sunday is that street parking is free. I got to town an hour before the race started and was able to find a spot a couple blocks away. I made a bathroom stop, did a half mile jog to warm up, then dropped warm clothes at gear check about 20 minutes before the 8:00 start. It was in the high 40s and I was concerned I might be cold standing around in a t-shirt while I waited, but between my jog and the anticipation of the race, I was fine. I lined up in the corral early enough to situate myself right by the pace group I hoped to follow. Last year I hit gear check later and faced a line, then it was hard to get where I wanted to be in the corral and I started farther back than I should have. I learned my lesson for this year.

I knew I should be disciplined with my pace since I was in taper mode for the marathon. My goal marathon pace is around 8:00/mile so I figured I could stay behind the 1:45:00 pacer for at least half of the race and maybe go ahead after that if I felt good.

We started in small waves every few minutes to help ease congestion and I went off near the front of the second wave. The wave start was especially helpful for coping with a tight spot around road construction in the first mile.

I’ve only had success sticking with a pace group a couple of times but this wasn’t one of those times. Despite being a couple people behind the pacer in the corral, I lost him immediately in the bustle of the start. I was able to get moving at my ideal pace fairly easily and ran the first mile in 7:51 yet I still couldn’t catch the pacer.

Last year we started an hour earlier in the dark which I believe was due to a request from the city so the roads could open up earlier. It also rained during that race so I didn’t take photos along the course. I made up for that this year by taking tons of photos of the scenic route. Fog kept us from seeing much of a sunrise but it was still pretty running past the Michigan and State Theatres through downtown Ann Arbor.

Prior to the start, race director Eva Solomon made an announcement about a narrow spot due to construction. Unfortunately I didn’t realize that until later because the guys next to me in the corral were talking so loudly I couldn’t hear anything she said. As we ran down State Street, we shifted to the sidewalk to get around the torn-up portion of the street. It didn’t get too clogged thanks to the wave start staggering runners every few minutes.

The inconvenience was fairly brief. We crossed over by the art museum and soon enough we were back out on the road running past the scenic law quad.

One of the perks of this race is getting to run around the campus of the University of Michigan, my alma mater. The only running I did during my time there was around the indoor track at the gym so I enjoy getting to run around a little chunk of campus now that I’m a “real” runner.

After a couple miles we worked our way out to Geddes Ave. which has some rolling hills. One of my fastest miles of the race was the fourth mile when I gained a lot of momentum running downhill. Each time I run that stretch I think about how I ought to get out there when I’m training for the Boston Marathon because it can help simulate the quad-pounding downhills of that race.

The foggy scenery was kind of nice as we ran past a golf course.

We ran along Huron River Dr. for a stretch before heading down to a path that runs along the river.

I have run this race four times and have experienced a slightly different course each time. The core of it has been the same but there have been tweaks every year – probably because of construction in a different spot each time. We didn’t run on as much of the Border to Border (B2B) trail last year so I was thankful this stretch was a part of the course again this year because it’s especially scenic.

I was halfway through the race when I finally caught up to the pace group. Does it mean I was technically disciplined since I didn’t pass the 8:01 pace group until halfway through the race as planned…even though my watch said I was averaging 7:45/mile at that point? Early on I heard some guys speculate that the pacer might be going out fast to help bank time for the hilly section that would come later. When the course ended up running extra long for me, I realized it was necessary to go faster than 8:01 to actually hit that 1:45:00 time successfully.

By the time I was halfway through the race the fog had broken and it turned into a pretty day. Thankfully it was in the low 50s which felt perfect to me.

I know things get tough when we approach the hospital 10 miles into the race. There’s a good uphill climb at that point. I had actually been there a couple weeks earlier because my niece Zoe was born there!

A major change to the course this year came when we got to the Arboretum – aka “the Arb” segment. We entered the Arb where we usually exit. Once again, thanks to construction! It got a little congested at this point because the marathon and half marathon runners started to share the course with people doing the 10K.

Taking a set of stairs down to the trail was something new this year. I’m thankful that Epic Races keeps finding ways to adapt each year so we can keep running the race even as construction pops up all over. I’m sure it creates challenges with mapping out the course.

The Arb is such a gorgeous part of the race. It was nice to run along a trail through the woods for a bit. The Arb hill is known as the toughest part of the race. Even though we ran a completely different route through the Arb, we definitely still got a hill! It wasn’t one steep climb like we’ve had in the past but rather a longer climb that just kept going. I ran 8:26 for the eleventh mile which was 30 seconds slower than my second slowest mile. It sure was pretty though!

Once I came out of the Arb I had a couple miles to go and got my pace back to where it had been prior to that mile. I had to do a little more weaving around some of the 10K people, and as I got closer to the finish, some 5K people as well.

During the last couple miles I also saw some of the fastest marathon runners going out for a second loop of the course.

The inconvenience of the construction on State Street was more noticeable on the way back simply because people running each of the races were on the same narrow stretch of sidewalk with a variety of paces. I was able to get by on the left well enough and it didn’t seem to slow me down.

Things opened back up soon enough and I knew I’d get a nice long stretch along Liberty to let loose with a downhill segment helping me out by the end.

I managed to run a 7:01 pace for the thirteenth mile, then instead of having .1 left, I still had .43 more according to my watch. That was nearly half a mile at a 6:40 pace. So much for being disciplined and taking it “easy.”

My official time was 1:43:21 which averaged out to 7:53/mile. Since my watch claims I did quite a bit more, it had me down for a 7:42 pace.

I know well enough that it’s rare for me to actually run the shortest possible distance on a race course even when I aim to run the tangents. My watch is not always reliable either and it showed me running through buildings rather than on the street when we were downtown. It’s typical for me to end up with 13.2 miles in a race rather than 13.1, but going over 13.4 was a bit more extreme. I’m sure construction along the course and a different route through the Arb could have contributed to some of that. It’s just nice to know that I would have been even closer to 1:40:00 minus some of the extra distance.

Mile six is when I found myself actually by the pace group and when I kept it the most under control. I’d been in a rhythm of going faster though, so when someone else broke around them on the left to pass, I took that chance to follow. I was actually fairly consistent for most of the race. That just meant I was consistently faster than I had intended to be on this day! I felt good and it can be hard to hold back.

I went to the post-race celebration area and saw my friend Angie who was helping Epic Races at the merch tent and talked to her for a few minutes. Standing around there only tempted me to buy something, of course.

Then it was time to get my warmer clothes from gear check and walk through the food line. I got some of my favorites that Epic always has to offer – pancakes, an egg and cheese wrap, and a cookie.

I stopped by the awards table and found that I was first in my age group! I could pick a coaster or a keychain and opted for the keychain.

I thought about going to treat myself to some donuts from Washtenaw Dairy and sent a text to my friend Beth to see if she was around. She lives right by the dairy and I stopped to visit her after the race the first year I did it. I lucked out and was able to see her and her family for a little bit before their day got busy.

I walked back by the finish line on my way out, thinking about how the marathon finishers at that point were probably around the pace that I would run for the marathon. Now I’ll see how that pans out for me on October 19 when I get my shot. I ran easy the day after the race and felt fine so I don’t think I beat myself up too much. Between the 20-miler at the Fox Valley Marathon at the end of September, this solid half marathon, and some good training, I should be in good shape and will hope everything comes together on race day.

– Janet

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