Well the half marathon was this past Sunday and it went really well! The start was early at 7:30 am so we got into RI the day before and got our race packets. The race packet pickup was at Olympia sports where I scored some really snazzy Puma sneakers that were on clearance for $33. Sweet!!
Ok Race day- the weather was perfect, it looked like it was really chilly because of the wind but Traci and I quickly realized we had 1 extra layer on that we didn't need. Since we had 15 minutes to kill before the start, we went back to my friend Sylvia's beach house (they hosted us for the weekend) to drop off our jackets & we get one last pee in! The race started on time and there was a quick little hill that was super narrow at one point and very uneven pavement right around mile 3-4. Like scary pavement where you NEED to watch where you step so you don't roll an ankle. That was a *dislike* for sure.
Overall the beginning of the course was pretty much flat up until 6-7 miles. The elevation map could have been wrong or I just don't know how to read a dam map but the freaking course was quite challenging right around 8 miles. Thankfully we have run lots of hills over our training and we got up those hills just fine and recovered quick off them. Kinda frustrating when a guy on a bike working for the race told us it was pretty much smooth sailing right around 9 miles when stopped for a pee break for Traci. Yeah he pretty much had NO IDEA what he was talking about.
My other suggestion would be to have more water/gatorade stops after the 7 mile mark. Early in the course it was very often and I feel like after mile mark 7 we could have used an extra one or two than what was offered. Other than that I would definitely run the race again and I hope they offer it again next year!
Now for my results -
1:59:29 official time (but this includes a 1.5- 2 minute pee break)
9:07 mile split
We finished exactly 50th percentile for the whole field of runners & in our age group (30-34).
Not bad for a race with allot of head wind! I wasn't expecting it to be windy. DUH. It is beach side. I have no idea why I didn't factor that in. But, I did expect the wind to be on our backs at some point but that really never happened....would have been nice for my time if it did!
In comparison to the last half marathon I ran I would say I was better conditioned for this one and more confident. My time reflected the same as last half marathon I ran when you consider taking out our time for our pee break. I wish that this year was faster but the head wind was definitely a factor and that narrow portion of the course that was super crowded.
My recovery seemed a little rough this go around. I was really tight on Sunday and Monday. Yesterday was so-so and today I feel great. I think Sunday the long car ride home from RI(about 2 hrs) and literally walking in my house for 20 minutes and getting back into the car off to Adam's brothers house with the boys/Adam's parents was not the best idea in hind sight. Too much sitting in the car too soon post race that's for sure. I didn't rest my legs at all until 9pm at night and at that hour it was too late. If only Sunday post race could have been more relaxed for me.... this just wasn't going to happen with 2 kids. Ahh...the good old days where I could race and come home and just relax. Those days are gone!
So now for race goals...I don't know really. I just want to race as frequently as possible (smaller stuff - 5k's, 5 miles or 10K's) until it gets way too cold up here and I become a treadmill runner for the cold winter months. I have a 5K I am eyeing this weekend and then a 5 miler around the corner, we'll see...
