Half Marathon Tune Up

Oh man, what a race. What a day! That was exhilirating to say the least. It was sooooooo cold this morning and sooooooo windy. The temp was about 40 but it felt like 32. My husband is a champ for standing out in the cold waiting for me to finish. I couldn't race without his support and amazing support it is!

Let's see, 2 days leading up to the race I threw all the calorie counting out the window. I didn't eat pure crap, but I ate more calories and indulged in some foods I don't eat anymore, like 100% real crab sandwiches with mayo, lots of pasta, mini chocolate bars and jelly beans. I felt so full and bloated on Friday and Saturday.

Breakfast this morning was a large cinnamin raisin bagel with 2 tbsp. peanut butter, 1 packet of instant oatmeal, a small Starbuck's coffee, black with sugar, and a bunch of water. About 45 minutes before the race I drank 12 oz. of Gatorade Endurance.

There were 6 of us from my hometown running this half. Three of us are running Boston, 2 are running Big Sur and 1 is running Avenue of the Giants in May. This was a tune up race for all of us and we all wanted to gage our training and aim for PRs. The weather was beautiful, but the wind was NOT.

I ran one mile for the warm up because I was short on time, and did only 2 strides. I ran the first mile too fast, but it felt good to loosen up. I settled in to pace for the 2nd mile and by the third mile I fell into a nice groove. It helped that the 1:30 pace group (which I did not know existed until today) sucked me into their group. They were a good bunch of runners, pleasant, and the leader was knowledgeable beyond my dreams so I decided to hang on to them for dear life!

It was WORK. There were many times that my mind played tricks on me, but the comfort of the group helped me through it as did my usual prayers, and thinking about the hard training and mileage I've been putting in. It all clicked. When the wind was unbearable, we all worked as each other's shields. Have I mentioned it was really a wonderful group of runners? The pace group leader, a long haired man in his late 40s or early 50s, wasn't overly chatty but reminded us to stay close and help each other, he would tell us to slow down or pick it up in certain spots on the course, he would remind us to not lean forward when tired and to tuck our hips under when heading up the few hills along the course. He was a dream of a pacer.

Here are my splits:
6:39
6:52
7:01
6:47
6:47 (drank 3 oz. of sports drink)
6:49
6:55 (took a GU with water)
6:48
6:52
6:57
6:43 (took 2 sips of water)
6:48
6:36
I forgot to turn off my watch at the finish so I don't know what the last .1 mile split was. Oops!

Chip time: 1:29:17
Gun time: 1:29:21
1st place in age group. :)
Avg overall pace of 6:49/mile

I was so elated at the finish that I hugged the pacer and he was thrilled that his entire group of about 15 runners made it within 1:30!!! Now that is a pro.

Ali and Cheryl both got 2nd in their age groups (Ali was the 2nd female overall. Cheryl was the 2nd female Master's runner). Kim placed 3rd or 4th in her age group. Toxie finished 3rd in his age group. Chris finished in the top 10 of his age group. We all set new PRs. What a joyous race for all!

After the race I had a Carl's Jr. Bacon Western Cheeseburger and a Diet Coke. Yum. Now it's back to regular eating habits. I'll be resting and stretching tomorrow and will resume training with very easy miles until Thursday (then it's back to the hard stuff). Thanks everyone for reading and for all the good vibes and well wishes ahead of time!