December 10, 2014

Happy Holidays Half MerryThon: RECAP

This past Sunday I ran my last race of 2014 – the Yukan Happy Holidays Half MerryThon in Gloucester!

And before I get into recapping the race I wanted to say a big THANK YOU to all of you that sent me such kind words after I posted about the race on Instagram. I couldn’t respond to everyone there so thank you, thank you, thank you!!!

Okay – back to the regularly scheduled programming

I’d never actually raced a half marathon before so I was nervous and excited in the week leading up to the race, and curious to see what kind of time I was capable of running. I have some big goals for 2015, one of which is running in a race that I need a sub-1:24 qualifying half to time to enter, so that was my #3 goal for this race.

Before every race I set 3 goals…

#1 – This is the BEST thing that could come out of the race – what would happen if everything goes my way. Reaching this goal can be really dependent on the course, race-day weather, and even the other ladies out there racing.
#2 – A goal that is a little bit of a reach but still attainable. Normally a finishing time that I’d like to hit.
#3 – The absolute MINIMUM that I am expecting out of myself.

This weekend my 3 goals were 3) run sub-1:24, 2) Run between 1:21:30 + 1:22:30 [what my coach thought I was currently in shape to run], and 1) win the race! Luckily by the end of the day on Sunday I had beat/met all of these goals! 😀

But let’s back up to race morning.

The race went off at 10AM which Henri loved because it meant that we didn’t have to wake up at the crack of dawn. I rolled out of bed around 6:45, took the dogs out, and spent some time foam rolling before it was time to head out. During the drive I ate a small container of instant oatmeal (maple), a banana, and half of a plain bagel. I discovered this combination before the Chicago Marathon and I don’t think I’ll be switching it up anytime soon!

We got to the race location around 8:45 and when we got out of the car to pick up my bib number we were hit by a FREEZING cold wind! We grabbed my number as fast as possible, made a quick pit-stop at the bathroom and booked it back to the car to stay warm for as long as possible.

About 35 mins before the race was scheduled to start I braved the cold and wind and headed out for my 10 minute warm-up (about 1.2 miles), I did some skips, stretched, strided out (strided it totally a word 😉 ) and met Henri at the starting line to hand off my warm clothes.

I went back and forth on what I wanted to race in and decided last minute to go with shorts, singlet, and gloves because without the wind it was 40ish degrees and I knew I would get hot during any non-windy patches if I was wearing more than that. Clearly I was the only one that thought like that… haha

The race went off right on time and just like that we were off on the out-and-back course.

Looking at the elevation map of the course before the race I knew that there were going to be some pretty good sized hills and I’m glad I was prepared for them because they were definitely rough! Let’s break down my thoughts a little mile by mile.

Miles 1-2: Wow, this is all uphill. Keep pushing! Just remember that you

Mile 3: Draft off this guy! Stay right on his shoulder so you don’t have to run in the wind. Oh… he’s slowing down. Go around him!

Mile 4-6: This is the strongest wind I’ve felt since the Santa Ana’s in college and WAYYY colder. I think I’m going to blow over. Hold your pace, just stay under 6:30!

Mile 7: Well this is lonely. Am I still on the course?? Ah, there’s a cop directing the way – perfect. Left turn here… heading back towards the finish. A little more than halfway there!

Mile 8-10: Much better! I’m definitely not lonely anymore. Out-and-back courses are awesome, other runners are the best cheerleaders ever!

Mile 11: I’m loving this tailwind/downhill combination that’s going on right now. Keep pushing. You’ve got this!

Mile 12: Hmm, I’ve got company. Just stick with this guy. Don’t let him get away from you! Nice and smooth down this hill. PUSH up this one!

Mile 13: One mile to go!! Give it all you’ve got, it’s all downhill from here!

Official time – 1:21:23 and 1st female (4th runner overall!)

Honestly, I was in shock when I crossed that finish line! When I coach told me that my goal time was 1:21:30-1:22:30 I thought that he was a little bit crazy, but isn’t that what coaches are for? To push us to our limits and help us run faster than we could on our own?? I am VERY happy with my time and am really excited for what this means for my 2015 goals!

And because I love this pic… always reppin’ my Oiselle, ProCompression, Altras and Cocogo! 😀