Posts Tagged by half marathon
The Increasingly Irrational Decisions of LB
| February 28, 2012 | Posted by Lauren under Running |
As you all know by now, Sunday was supposed to be my first race of the season – and my very first race as a Saucony Hurricane. Instead, it was my first real DNS (did not start).
Not quite as exciting…OR something I’m particularly proud of and excited to write about. Obviously I remained in denial about the situation for as long as possible. So how does one go from proclaiming that a little bit of rest is all she needs to be able to run a race to deciding not to even start?
Well….without further ado, I present to you: “The Increasingly Poor Irrational Decisions of LB” (anyone else seen this show? No? Just me…?)
Friday night
Come home from cross training at the gym. At this point I have spent the entire afternoon Googling some form of the phrase: “pain arch runner” and have managed to convince myself that I have full-blown post-tib tendinitis, my right arch is slowly collapsing, and before I know it, I will be flat-footed and permanently injured. Kick myself for thinking that even cross training was a good idea. Spend a good portion of the evening trying to convince EC that my right ankle is, indeed, collapsing more than my left.
Saturday morning
Wake up. Immediately start icing foot. Get Ibuprofen from nearby drugstore. You know – to reduce the inflammation and all that jazz. Take Ibuprofen and head down to UPS with EC to pick up last year’s uniform that Saucony sent me for the race on Saturday. Fall immediately in love with the ViZiPRO pink and blather incessantly about how excited I am to race in it the next day.
This picture does not do justice to the wonderful brightness of this pink
Head to local running shoe store to explain my plight to the staff and look at inserts. Because obviously, even though I haven’t run with inserts for any of my adult life, I must need them now. You know – to support that dropping arch of mine. I have my gait quickly analyzed and the staff member tells me that I definitely over-pronate, but if anything – it’s more on my left foot than my right (What?!? He must not be seeing things correctly). I try on a couple of different types of inserts and even run up and down the street in one. I’ve made my decision – I will buy inserts and I will race in them tomorrow. All my problems will be solved.
Thankfully, I have EC with me. And with a few moments to reflect and speak rationally about the situation with him (combined with some hesitant remarks from the staff when I stated my plan out loud), I decide to hold off on the inserts…for now. I would still race, but without the extra support. And then if things didn’t get better, I’d go back and buy a pair.
(On a positive note, we did get EC fitted in a brand new pair of running shoes of his own. So the trip wasn’t a total bust)
Saturday afternoon
After running a few more errands, EC and I get back to my apartment. I put on compression socks, keep my feet up, and proceed to keep up a routine of icing for the rest of the day (along with taking another Ibuprofen). RICE at its finest. Still in denial, I look up the course map and start talking about places EC can stand to watch. You know, my foot is actually feeling a lot better. In fact, it’s practically good as new. I will definitely be running tomorrow.
Saturday evening
EC begins the long, tedious process of talking some sense into me (easier said than done). I brush him off, telling him that he doesn’t need to worry. I will start the race tomorrow and if I feel any pain at all, I will drop out. We both know this is a lie. He continues making logical statements. I continue arguing against them with increasingly illogical ones of my own:
But I need to run this race. I spent money on the registration. It wasn’t cheap, you know!
But the race sold out. If I don’t run, that means I’ll have taken a bib from someone else that could’ve run. I feel too awful!
You know – it would be different if I had broken my foot or something. {yes, clearly talking about a more severe injury that you could have is the rational thing to do in this situation}
It’s not like I have some serious injury.
But I’m not even limping around!
Look – it is SERIOUSLY fine. My foot does not hurt {stated as I ran around in circles in my apartment like a madwoman}.
I can’t just sit around tomorrow. I need to do a long run. Which obviously means that I need to do this race.
But I won’t even get my t-shirt….
Finally, with a few more tears than I’d like to admit, I accept defeat. What finally convinced me? Statements about prevention….and poker.
You’ll have to wait until my next post for the poker talk (I bet you’re excited!). But for now, we can focus on prevention. Something I strongly support in most aspects of my life (you know the old axiom – “An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure”). But when it comes to running – something I easily forget when I’m blinded by crazy.
Because even though my foot really was feeling better than it had, I knew that it still wasn’t 100%. I might have been able to make it through the race, but not without further damage. As EC so wisely said:
It’s not about the injury you have now. It’s about the injury you can prevent.
Which got me thinking about the question my old coach used to ask us when we were struggling with running through injury.
Would you rather run today, or run for the rest of your life?
While I don’t think racing a half marathon on a sore foot would have kept me out of commission for the rest of my life, the sentiment was the same. And could be re-phrased to something more like this:
Would you rather run today, or run on April 16th?
I needed to choose April 16th.
If this had been my goal race, there wouldn’t have been any question about whether I would run it. I would have gone out there and willed my foot to take me through one last run, knowing that I could ice and rest it for a long time after. But Hyannis was not my goal race. Sure, it would’ve been a great training run, and I was itching to race after many months away from it. But I needed to keep my eyes on the ultimate goal. Sometimes, when you’re in the midst of training, it’s easy to get caught up in what you need to do right now. And think that if you don’t do this long run, your training is out the window. Your hopes of running a marathon are over.
When in reality, sometimes NOT running is much better for you in the end.
Now it’s Tuesday. I’m a couple of days removed from the situation, and am thinking much more rationally. Even though I’m still bummed about my big fat DNS, my life has gone on (what a surprise). I’m happy I didn’t choose to injure my foot further by being stubborn. And I’m hoping that the extra rest and cross training I am doing this week will help things heal, and allow me to race not once, but twice this coming weekend.
Next up – what marathon training and poker have in common. Or, I should say, my irrational approach to training and poker…
Insomnia & Mystery Pain – It Must Be Race Week!
| February 24, 2012 | Posted by Lauren under Running |
This weekend, I’ll be returning to Hyannis to run my first race of 2012. And until this past Monday, I hadn’t actually given much thought to the race at all. In fact, I sort of forgot that it was coming up so quickly. I signed up for the Hyannis Half awhile ago because I had such a great time there last year and figured it could be a fun race to mix up my training a bit.
But, since I haven’t really been thinking about it, I haven’t actually done anything specific to prepare. I haven’t changed my training and haven’t exactly been the picture of health when it comes to my eating habits this week either. Instead, I just kept telling myself that there was no reason to be nervous or stressed about the race at all, because the plan was (is) to do it as a training run.
But we all know how good I am about making a race into training run <sarcasm>. And if I’m being perfectly honest, I will admit that I want to run this race fast – or faster than last year, at least. Last year I ran this half through the snow, while battling a really bad cold and nasty congestion. I wasn’t expecting to do anything spectacular, and ended up with a new PR. A PR that still stands to this day.
Granted, I don’t do too many half marathons, and all of them have been in the midst of training for something else. But if I can run a 1:33:07 while sick, reason goes to show that I should be able to run faster when I’m not sick. It hasn’t happened yet, though. Either I’m not so great at racing half marathons, or my secret to success is racing while sick.
Anyway – I hadn’t really been paying attention to any of those thoughts swirling around my head. I’ve actually been refusing to acknowledge any and all thoughts about the race. You know…because denial is always the best pre-race strategy.
But then this week – the problems started. Insomnia and mysterious foot/ankle pain. And I’m starting to wonder if maybe (just maybe) I’m a bit more nervous about this half marathon than I’ve allowed myself to admit.
The insomnia thing is nothing new. Sleep and I have always had a troubled relationship. I’m not the type of person that can fall asleep anytime and anywhere without problem. I often have trouble sleeping anywhere besides my own bed, and go through phases a couple of times each year where sleep becomes more difficult than a 20-mile run. It stops coming natural and starts feeling like work. Of course, the cruel irony is that the more you stress about not being able to fall alseep, the harder it is to do so. I try to tell myself that lying in bed, thinking about how I’m never going to be able to fall asleep isn’t exactly doing myself any favors. But I repeat the cycle every night anyway. Instead of letting my body drift off, my brain somehow thinks that if it works hard enough, it can will my body to sleep. Because that makes a whole lot of sense, right?
I suppose here is where I should have a few bullet points to tell you what healthy things I’ll be doing for the next couple nights to make sure I get enough rest before Sunday. But honestly? I’m 99.9% sure there’s going to be some Nyquil in my very near future. Yes, it’s that bad.
Which brings me to the foot pain. On Monday, I noticed some pain in the arch of my foot and my ankle. It didn’t seem awful (feels like it’s bruised…although there’s no actual bruise that I can see), so I kept my run really short and figured I could stretch/roll and be good as new the next day. Except I wasn’t. And like the smart stubborn runner that I am, I kept running on it anyway. You know, because if you run 8 miles easy instead of at the prescribed tempo pace, the pain will obviously go away. Right??
Yesterday, I finally came to my senses. Obviously continuing to run on something that hurts with every step (and especially when I take right turns…which I seem to do a lot. I think I need to start running in the opposite direction) is not good. And it certainly won’t help me race well on Sunday. So, despite the fact that yesterday was probably the nicest day of the year so far, I did not run. Instead, I took Koli for a 2.0 mile walk after work.
This is not from yesterday’s walk. But it is my dog.
Just kidding! I actually have no idea how far we walked. The point is, though, that I walked. I did not run. And last night I crossed my fingers and went to sleep (or at least attempted to), hoping the pain would be gone in the morning.
As you may have guessed…it’s not. I know I can’t be frustrated that things aren’t completely better after one day of rest, but since I don’t know what is causing the problems in the first place, it’s hard not to be. The plan for now is to cross train today and hope to take it on a short test run tomorrow. And if all else fails…that’s why they make ibuprofen, right? (Kidding!! ….kind of).
So those are my jumbled pre-race thoughts. No calm inspirational message…just focusing on trying not to freak myself out too much. I know that the tougher I am going in mentally, the better the race will be. And at the end of the day, this is supposed to be fun. Yes, I want to do well, but this isn’t a race that I’ve been working really hard toward for months on end. No matter what happens, there will be other races. And plenty of time to chase down that half marathon PR.
Now if I could just get some sleep….
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Honestly – if you have any great sleep tips that don’t involve knocking myself out with nighttime cold medication, please share!
The Art of Racing in the Rain
| August 12, 2011 | Posted by Lauren under Running |
…not to be confused with this book, by Garth Stein -
Which, much to my dismay when I picked it up a few years ago, is not actually about running. Though I did learn a lot about driving race cars. And I’m admittedly a sucker for any story that’s about a dog, written from a dog’s point of view, or just has a lot of dogs in it.
Anyway, I digress…
Today I want to talk about running in the rain. Or, more specifically, racing in it. Signing up for races means making a commitment to run in any type of weather – cold, heat, snow, sunshine, and rain. In my running-paradise, every race would be 50 degrees and sunny. But this is real life, and sometimes that means you have to run in pretty inclement weather.
Like Sunday’s Rock ‘n Roll Half Marathon, where it didn’t just rain…it poured. Was I excited about running in these conditions? Heck no. Running through pouring rain and driving headwinds just adds to the misery of racing for an hour and a half. But it doesn’t have to be the worst experience in the world. With just a little bit of planning, it might not be quite as miserable as you expect.
Racing in the Rain
Signs of a runner who has been slogging racing for over an hour through torrential downpour…
While I can’t promise you’ll have tons of fun the next time you have to race through a downpour, I do have a few tips to hopefully make it a little more bearable.
1.) Stay as dry as you can for as long as you can.
You have no choice but to get wet once the gun goes off, but why make yourself even more miserable by standing around and getting soaked before the race begins? Especially if it’s cold. Seek shelter before the start and try to go into the corral at the last minute. If you have to stand outside, get yourself a trash bag and make yourself a fancy schmancy trash bag rain coat. They’re all the rage these days.
Photo from Frayed Laces
2.) Wear a hat.
This might be obvious, but having a brimmed hat is the best way to keep the water out of your face as you’re running. Because let’s be honest – do you really want rain in your eyes when you’re trying to figure out where to turn on the course or avoid those ankle-deep puddles?
I got this hat from Road Runner Sports a year ago – and love it!
3.) Less is more!
There’s no avoiding it – your clothes are going to get soaked. So don’t weigh yourself down even more by wearing big shirts or bulky bottoms. Since most races (that I know of) won’t allow you to run naked, choose light, formfitting clothes. As evidenced by the above photo, loose shorts start sticking and riding up when they’re wet. Not only is this incredibly unattractive, but it also can lead to more chafing. Which brings me to…
4.) Body Glide everywhere…and then do it again.
It quickly became clear after finishing Sunday’s race that I didn’t do as great a job with the Body Glide as I had thought. When running in the rain, you will probably experience chafing in areas you’ve never had to worry about before – avoid that by being as liberal with Body Glide as you can.
5.) Leave the iPod at home
Unless you can wrap it in a plastic bag and stow it somehow, rain + iPods do not mix. Fortunately, mine seems to be okay now (maybe it just needed to dry out), but I shouldn’t have even brought it to the race to begin with.
6.) Trade trainers for racing flats.
Within a mile of Sunday’s half marathon, my feet were so weighed down with water that my racing flats weighed about as much as my normal trainers. Even though this was the longest I had raced in them to date, I was so glad not to have even more weight on my feet.
7.) {try to} Have fun with it!
Stomp in puddles. Try to throw your competition off by splashing water at them. See if you can catch rain drops in your mouth. Or make a game out of out-running the rain drops. Yes, I know….after an hour running up hills and slogging through puddles, the fun starts to wear off a little bit. But doing whatever you can to change your attitude from “This sucks. I’m miserable. Get me out of here!” to one that sees the rain as part of the fun can make the race just a little less crappy.
8.) Bring a change of clothes for after the race.
You’ve already spent a long time running in your gross, wet clothes. Do you want to stand around in them too? Being able to towel off and change into dry clothes after you’ve crossed the finish line can make you feel as good as new.
Sorry Lizzy – this was too good not to share!
9.) Just make sure those clothes are stored in a dry place.
Whoever was in charge of the RnR bag check process didn’t really plan for the weather. Bags were just thrown in a pile on the ground without any sort of covering to keep them dry. Because canvas bags are waterproof, right??
I felt bad for all the participants who had checked their bags at the start only to finish and find sopping wet clothes waiting for them. Sometimes there’s nothing you can do to avoid this, but if you can stash the bag somewhere dry yourself – do it!
10.) Celebrate! …by going somewhere warm and dry.
Even though the amazing Sugar Ray was performing after the race (did he ever have more than just 2 songs??), we didn’t stick around for too long afterward. Because listening to a concert in the rain after running through the rain isn’t as much fun as one might think.
So the next day we celebrated surviving the race (me as a runner and EC as a world-class spectator) by going somewhere warm and sunny.
Okay…I’ll admit that this doesn’t really have a ton to do with the post. But I needed a #10…and you asked for pictures of my hair cut, so here you go.
Any other tips to share for surviving a race in the rain?
Providence Rock ‘n Roll Half Marathon
| August 8, 2011 | Posted by Lauren under Running |
Yesterday I participated in the first ever Rock ‘n Roll Providence Half Marathon. And while I’m not quite sure if I “rocked” it, I can say it was quite the experience! From the great expo, to the torrential downpour, to the awesome volunteers and bands that came out and stood in pouring rain to support us…to the fact that my official time as listed as this:
Apparently it took me 3 hours to run the last mile. What can I say? I thought it might be fun to do it on my hands. Only I’m not very good at handstands
…this race will be one I won’t soon forget!
Oh and about that time listed above. Obviously I did not walk the last mile on my hands. Nor did I fall asleep for awhile, or go into the mall to freshen up before crossing the finish line. Apparently there was something wrong with my chip and my finish time didn’t register. Fingers crossed the RnR staff are working on it….but for now, officially I’m a 4:18 half marathoner…
Why the Race Rocked
Much like the Hyannis Half in February, this was one of those races where everything seemed to go wrong along the way. The start was delayed, the weather was awful, my running buddy suffered from awful cramping problems after the first 5K, my iPod died, and I experienced chafing in places I’ve never experienced chafing before. But all in all, I’d still have to call it a success!
I realize that above paragraph doesn’t make much sense. How can a race where everything seems to be going so poorly end up being a success? Because sometimes it’s all about your expectations. I didn’t really expect yesterday to be a PR day and once we were a couple miles into the race, it became pretty clear that this race was going to be all about doing the best I could at that very moment. So I just ran, one mile at a time. And you know what? Given the chance, I’d do it all over again.
The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly
I have to admit I wasn’t exactly excited the week leading up to the race. But that all changed on Saturday when I met up with EC and the {ontherun} crew to head down to the Rock ‘n Roll Providence expo.
Now here in Providence, we aren’t used to big fancy expos with free samples and lots of vendors. Usually they’re held in a little room with a few local companies and a couple sections of merchandise for sale. The RnR expo blew those other races out of the water – tons of vendors, free samples, and of course, plenty of photo opps.
Yes, I realize this photo may look vaguely familiar from Lizzy’s blog…
Perfect for getting a runner pumped up and ready to race.
The next morning dawned bright and early. But since I only live about a mile from the starting line (benefit of doing a race in your own town!), my morning was pretty leisurely. I got up, got dressed, packed my bag and left the house with less than 30 minutes to the start.
Oh, except I was missing one little thing…
…about 14 inches of hair!
Everyone chops off their hair the day before a race, right? It’s like swimmers before a big meet – all about being more aerodynamic. Because clearly, with Kim Smith and other excellent runner coming from all over to run this thing, I was gunning for a win.
Once I got to the race, I had big plans – to meet up with Frayed Laces! FL is spending her summer in RI and when we both discovered we’d be participating in the RnR Half Marathon, we decided we needed to run together! Chatting with FL and Evan in the corral before the start helped calm my nerves and pass the time until the gun finally went off, releasing thousands of runners into the flooding streets of Providence.
Just how rainy was it?? Well, I think the below pictures should give you a good idea.
No, that’s not a grainy photo – that’s the sheets of rain pouring down.
Despite the downpour, I was optimistic. FL and I started out strong, weaving and bobbing through the crowd (translation: wasting energy and running the first mile way too fast).
Once we got through the first mile, we settled in and tried to find our groove. The first half of the race was much hillier than the second half, so we just tried to stay strong up them without using up too much energy. Unfortunately, however, after only a couple miles into the race, FL starting suffering from some really bad cramps – first her stomach, than her hamstring. By the 5K mark, things only seemed to be getting worse.
Dear FL, I hope you’ll forgive my over-enthusiam in the midst of your suffering.
I think the pictures EC captured sum up the situation pretty well:
After 4 miles, it was pretty clear our grand plans of a 1:34:00 half weren’t in the cards for today. FL told me to go ahead, so I surged a little bit, hoping she’d feel better soon and come join me. (You’ll have to read her recap to find out what happened, but unfortunately things did not get better after that. FL – I’m so sorry I had to leave you!)
As we turned the corner up another large hill, I put on my headphones and planned to zone out to my favorite running mix. Only, when I pressed play, no sound came out. I spent a good half a mile playing with the stupid thing before I realized it was useless. I’d have to make do without it. You all know how much I love running with music. But if I can do a full marathon without it, I could certainly last 9 more miles.
Those next several miles were a bit of a blur. I remember rain, and puddles, and hills…and more rain. I remember being impressed that bands were still playing in the downpour and that people were out cheering. I remember being so thankful that these volunteers chose to stand out in the downpour to makes sure runners got fuel along the course. And I remember thinking about EC waiting for me at mile 7. The thought of him standing out in the pouring rain, just to cheer me along kept me moving forward, one step at a time.
After this point, the course wound down along the river, by India Point park, and weaved through downtown. I knew most of the hills were over, so I stopped looking at my watch and just started running by feel. I continued ticking the miles off one by one, just focusing on the mile I was running before thinking about the next.
We can talk about my atrocious form another day.
There were some lonely miles, but there were also some great ones where bands and spectators gave me energy to pick up the pace. (To the cheerleading squad who was stationed under the 195 bridge – a huge HUGE thank you. I could hear your cheers from way down the street, and I could’ve kissed each and every one of you for your amazing cheering and enthusiasm as I ran through that tunnel!). My splits were all over the place, but with every step, my determination to get to that finish line as fast as I could only grew.
Finally we rounded a final corner and that wonderful, glorious finish line was in sight….at the top of a very steep, awful hill (thanks a lot RnR organizers). I dug deep, and ran across that finish line (EC swears I was grunting as I passed him. This may or may not be true).
Final {Garmin} results:
Time: 1:34:42 for 13.32 miles (7:06/mile)
After a quick change of clothes, it was time to celebrate! With one awesome, large medal, one low-carb beer (clearly us runners need to watch our carb intake) and one awesomely 90′s Sugar Ray concert.
Why yes, it was 9:30 in the morning. Perfectly normal for race day.
And the best part of all? There was no need to shower after! I mean, I got pretty drenched during the race. Rain washes away all sweat, right?
All in all, the Rock ‘n Roll Providence Half Marathon was a good race. So well organized and lots of fun, despite the elements. And while I wish that things had gone a little smoother, I ran negative splits through a rain storm. So in the end, I guess that sort of makes feel like a Rock Star.
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Update!
Right before publishing this post, I checked the RnR results one more time…just in case. I guess my barrage of emails to Competitor worked! My official time has been updated.
Thank you, Competitor for fixing my time so quickly!! I have no idea where or how they did this, but I’ll take it.
Especially since it comes with a 3rd place in my Age Group. Completely unexpected, and incredibly exciting!
Cox Rhode Races 2011: Half Marathon Recap
| May 2, 2011 | Posted by Lauren under Running |
Despite my lack of training over the past month, yesterday morning I woke up extremely excited to run the Cox Rhode Races Half Marathon through my city. This was my second time running the course, and I had such a great experience last year that I couldn’t wait to do it again. (For last year’s race recap and a more thorough description of the course, click here). While I can’t say that I had quite as much fun as I did last year, I can say that I was very happy to be running. Because when it comes down to it, if there’s a race going on in my city, I’d rather be participating than watching from the sidelines.
While I didn’t have any real goals going into this race, I’d be lying if I said I didn’t have my time from last year etched into the back of my mind. If I could beat that time without running myself into the ground, you better believe I was going to go for it. I’m really happy to report that I did! I ran a 1:34:41, almost 2.5 minutes faster than the 1:37:07 I ran last year (while in really good shape).
If you’ve never run a race in your hometown before, I highly recommend it! Not only is it really fun to run through familiar streets with all your neighbors cheering you on, you also don’t have to get up at the crack of dawn to make the start. I only live a couple of miles from the starting line of yesterday’s race, so I was able to get up, have a leisurely breakfast and take my time getting down there.
Instead of giving you a complete rundown of the entire race, I thought I’d give you a 13 highlights from my 13(point 1) miles.
13 Thoughts from the 2011 Cox Half Marathon
1.) Waking up to a cool, crisp morning with the sun shining (last year’s race was cloudy, hot and humid).
2.) Getting down to the start with plenty of time to make my usual porta-potty run and while standing in line, suddenly realizing that I had forgotten my iPod! My dependence on love for running with music has been well documented. It may sound silly, but at that point the thought of not having my music, something I was mentally prepared to run with, was just too much. I leapt out of line and ran back to Becky so that I could borrow her phone to call EC.
3.) Realizing that I don’t actually know my boyfriend’s cell phone number. (In my defense he recently got a new number…and by recently I mean January. Oops).
4.) Sending a flurry of frantic emails to the wrong email address. (If I ever try to convince you that I am a calm, rational-thinking person before a race, please think back on this story and know that I am a big fat liar.) And since EC and I haven’t yet figured out how to communicate telepathically, I never did get that iPod.
5.) Having a great friend who is willing to go without her own iPod so that you can run with music. Becky was planning on running with family, so although she had made a playlist for the race, she told me she’d be fine without it. I have never been so thankful for a sacrifice as I was at that very moment. And when I turned on the music to hear the first chords of “Eye of the Tiger” bursting into my ears, I knew everything was going to be okay.
6.) Feeling the excitement of the crowd and letting that pull me into a much faster start than I was actually trained to run. Especially when the course is not flat. And especially when you basically spend the first half in an uphill climb.
Because any smart, undertrained runner would attack the first flat section in preparation for a series of long climbs, right??
Mile 1 – 6:54
Mile 2 – 6:56
7.) Seeing Evan at the top of one particularly long climb that had knocked some of the wind out of my sails and made me realize that the aggressive pace I had started off with was not realistic under my current circumstances (and being okay with that).
Thanks for giving me an extra boost Evan!
8.) Seeing EC and Koli around Mile 5 (after yet another long climb), and knowing I’d get to see them again in 3 more miles (I love how easy it is to spectate on the Half Marathon course).
Mile 3 – 7:09
Mile 4 – 7:13
Mile 5 – 7:30
9.) Feeling as though the rolling hill section through Pawtucket flew by and I was suddenly back on Blackstone again, heading into the home stretch of the course.
Mile 6 – 7:02
Mile 7 – 7:09
Mile 8 – 7:26
Sometimes I yell at EC when I run. Fortunately he is a good, patient guy and doesn’t yell back.
10.) With the exception of one particularly nasty hill in the 11th mile, being able to run down all those hills I had climbed during the first part of the course.
Mile 9 – 7:10
Mile 10 – 7:02
Mile 11 – 7:33
11.) Pushing through those final, gloriously flat miles, knowing I was tired but not completely spent. Knowing that my faithful legs were going to carry me to a course PR, despite the fact that I didn’t really give them the best training they could’ve asked for.
Mile 12 – 7:07
Mile 13 – 7:05
12.) Coming around that final corner (and practically running into Lizzy!), seeing the finish, and pushing as hard as I could make these heavy legs move to make sure I finished under 1:35.
Classic
Mile 13.22 – 1:23 (6:27 pace)
13.) Being done! Although I do really like the Half Marathon course, there is no better feeling in the world than being done with a race. And since the last race I ran was a full marathon, the time seemed to fly by. I loved it. (Someone please remind me why I keep signing up for full marathons!?)
I honestly didn’t expect much going into the race, and in the end I was really happy with the way it turned out! I can’t say that I felt amazing the entire way, or that I wasn’t tired, or that I didn’t have brief moments where I questioned my sanity (especially because my warped mind equates running for fun with running as hard as I can without killing myself – have I mentioned I’m my own greatest competition??). I loved running through the streets of my neighborhood and finished the race with renewed excitement for my relay this weekend.
Congrats to all the Marathon and Half Marathon finishers!
Final Results
Garmin Results:
13.22 miles in 1:34:41 (7:10 pace)
Official Results:
13.1 miles in 1:34:41 (7:14 pace); 128th/2,398 overall
17th/1,450 females; 10th/581 in division
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And now I’m off to celebrate by moving. Anyone want to come help me lug furniture?? 
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