Although it so warm and humid now, last weekend it was actually bit chilly. I woke up at 5:30am on Sunday and it was around 50 degrees outside--apparently perfect running weather since it eventually warmed up to 65 degrees but it felt freezing in just my shorts and shirt. I ate my usual english muffin (sadly un-toasted) with peanut butter, applesauce and half a sliced banana. I read in one of my running books that on race day you can drink 6-8oz of water every 30 minutes so I stuck with that and had no problems ( I seriously have nightmares about having "runners trots"-a fairly common occurrence for runners going on long distance runs where their bowels get unhappy with all the movement and they literally crap their pants). Pretty sure one of my goals in life is to not have to do my business in front of 700 people...so therefore I watch what I eat and drink really carefully before running. Anyway, the worry was for naught because I didn't have to go during the race and I guess I sweated a crazy amount because I didn't go until I got home-about 3 hours after the finish. Is that TMI? Yeah...sorry about that.
So I got to the race site around 630am. I hyperventilated in the car and hysterically asked Logan why in the world did I sign up for this and freaked out for a good 10 minutes. Finally decided that the lure of a post race corn dog (the race bib got me into a local fair that was on site for free) was enough of an incentive so I finally got out of the car.
Do you think it counts if I drive to the finish line? |
One of the things I liked best about this race was the course. The course ran alongside the ocean, through cute ocean-side villages and neighborhoods. Plus it was flat...it probably could have been the most ugly course and I would have liked it because it was flat but it was actually really pretty:
Logan took these pictures as he volunteered. I hardly have coordination to run without tripping, let alone run while not tripping while taking pictures. I am only human! |
This road went forever...I think I spent at least 8 miles on it..bad thing was that the bog kinda smelled. |
At this point I had entered Watch Hill, my beloved oceanside village, but I had overlooked one tiny thing about Watch Hill...the HILL portion of it's name. Ugh, so many hills! What sadist decided to put hill after hill after hill at the end of the course!?! When I drove the course the day before they hills did not seem nearly as steep...so I had to take prolonged walking breaks to simply make it up them. The last few miles are a bit of a blur but I do remember that as I passed an older lady she yelled you "you go girl!" It made me smile and kept me going. **Sidenote: runners are so nice! everyone was cheering as people passed them and was yelling encouragement to each other. Unexpected but a great surprise** My favorite part of the race was as I was nearing the finish line I came upon the water station where Logan was working. He started yelling encouragement and ran to the end with me. The first thing I said when I saw him was "why didn't you bring me an alpaca to ride?!? I am so tired!!" He laughed and told me to keep going or I wouldn't get a corn dog. I was so inspired that I stopped my three legged turtle pace and got all the way up to four legged turtle pace!
Four legged turtle pace...be in awe |
Someone point me to the corn dogs right.this.second. |
So ridiculously pleased with my pretty surfboard medal |
If only they were serving Diet Coke |
So my official time: 2 hours 52 minutes and 5 seconds and gun time: 2 hours 52 minutes and 43 seconds
Half Marathon under 3 hours? Success!
Observations:
1. I think I will try to avoid races with time limits. I think the 3 hour limit scared off some of my fellow slow people so it got kind of lonely towards the end.
2. Water is a safety blanket for me so I think I am going to get a camelbak because that tiny handheld one doesn't cut it.
3. I need to buy proper running wear because I wore my old workout capris and they kept ridding up. You know what's awkward? Trying to fix your pants when people all around you staring at your butt.
4. Corn dogs are really motivating
5. I can't wait till my next race!!!
Speaking of next races, I think I will aim for one in the spring. I want to do a proper training program that incorporates hills and timed trials. My program this time was purely distance based and I was utterly unprepared for hills plus I think I can be faster. I am hoping for a 5% improvement so that works out to around 9 minutes. I think my goal will be to finish under 2hr 40 minutes.
Such a cool experience! |