Some good news from todays race: I definitely set a PR for courses where the hills have names. Some BETTER news: I beat my regular ol half-marathon PR by 11 seconds!!! What a happy surprise!! If you like race recaps, grab a cup of tea and settle in! I parked with no problem close to the start line, and sat in my car while watching the wind howl outside in the 18-degree air. I briefly considered switching to a warmer running jacket, but decided to bring a throwaway jacket to the start line instead. That ended up being a great decision, because when the sun peeked out of the clouds (as it did on occasion), I would have overheated for sure! The race started with no hoopla or fanfare. I lined up about a third of the way back -- there was no chip-timing, so I lost a few seconds there, but back at the start, I didnt expect those seconds to matter! The crowd thinned out pretty quickly and I settled into my cruising pace, which was pleasantly fast (for me). The course started doing the rolling hills thing in the first couple of miles, but I decided I could maintain that pace without a problem until the huge hills started. The first hill with a name came after mile 5, Shoe Tree Hill. It was a doozy, but I remembered it from my 20-miler last weekend, when I ran part of the course. I concentrated on pumping my arms and shortening my strides, and to my delight I stayed strong and even passed a few folks -- probably flatlanders from the city. ;) Sneaky Hill was next, at about mile 6.5. I took an Island Boost chocolate gel as I climbed up the hill, and I give that product two thumbs up. Easy to eat (no water needed), and it did indeed give me a boost! I was coming to really enjoy the downhill portions, and I was able to maintain my 8:20-8:30 pace on the flat portions. I started to think that I could sub-2 this thing, which gave me a psychological lift. Substantial Hill came right before mile 8, and it was aptly named, but I still did not stop to walk and stayed strong. Then came 10 Mile Hill and Big Hill -- those seemed like poser hills compared to the others, or maybe I was just getting used to them! The last hill was just after mile 11, and was called Lung Buster Hill, which wasnt the steepest hill but it seemed like it. I imagine the psychological effect of this hill is similar to Heartbreak Hill on the Boston course -- coming so late in the race, it has the potential to take the wind out of your sails. Im not gonna lie -- my pace did go into the 9s for a little bit after that hill. I remembered an Another Mother Runner podcast where Sarah said that she usually takes a gel at mile 11 for her secret weapon. I pulled my emergency chocolate Gu out of my pocket and ate a little of it. From then on, I knew that the end was in sight, and my watch told me that if I maintained my pace from earlier in the race, I could get close to my PR time of 1:54:52. Well, shoot, I said to myself. I know Im going to get sub-2 at this point. How much would it suck to come super-close to my PR and not get it? LETS DO THIS! I slowly started speeding up my pace, and by mile 12.5 I was at an 8-minute pace (super-speedy for me). It seemed like the finish line was never going to appear, but when I saw the finish line clock I sprinted with everything I had. The finish line photo is going to suck hard, though. ;) I turned in the bottom portion of my bib to be counted, got my medal and headed right to the results van to get a printout of my time. I knew it was going to be close, so I wanted proof. After a few minutes, I had the evidence in my hands -- 1:54:41! I would highly recommend this race, and not just because I got a PR. The course markings, aid stations and enthusiastic volunteers were all top-notch. I would recommend some serious hill-training, though, and Im glad that the training I did served me well. This race has given me a lot of confidence as I continue my marathon training! Tell me how your races and long runs went today! :)
Posted on: Sun, 16 Mar 2014 17:47:09 +0000
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