Women's Half Marathon

The last couple weeks I've been trying to figure out pacing and have been critical about my conditioning.  While it wasn't my goal when I started the race, in the first two miles I decided to run for a 7:57 pace and strive to be  Sandbagger Adam II. What's that mean?  I was a sandbagger; I was awesome, exceeded my expectations and got a new PR.

At the expo I picked up my Ultimate goody bag. I pondered what would make up an ultimate goody bag and compared to the Black Knight  and Giorgio's loot, it was disappointing but at least it didn't have a gazillion papers and ads.  The technical T and goody bag were pretty cool and I really like the GU Chomps.

I got to the race really early and sat around waiting for time to pass. The throw-away sweatshirt kept me warm in the brisk, cool weather. When it was time to check my bag, I put my sweatshirt in to save it for another race day.  My investment of $2 at Goodwill is going to stretch along way and this is the second race I've worn the sweatshirt at.  It wasn't too crowded in the corral and I looked around at other runners and wondered what times they would run. 

It took a good 2 miles for my legs to warm up and feel good. Up to then they were tired and sluggish and I wondered if I was going out too fast and if I could maintain the 8's.  The course, while according to the elevation chart was overall downhill, had quite a few inclines.

RACE HIGHS

• Seeing all the women running the race.
• Realizing that I was going to get a PR and it was going to exceed my expectations.
• There were a couple points where the course doubled back on itself. I love seeing the other runners and cheering them on.
• Passing people the last mile

RACE LOWS

• The stomach revolt that occurred after the race and continued at home (thank goodness for being home).  The good news is I got in lots of reading time.
• It was the longest finisher shoot that kept winding around so you couldn't see the end.  My Garmin shows that I ran an extra .12.  I need to work on running those tangents.
• Even though I used Aquafor by my underarms, I still chafed some. Ouch.
• My right arm fell asleep and I kept shaking it trying to get the blood flowing in it again.

RACE STATS

• Unofficial time 1:41:58.  The race results aren't posted yet for me to confirm or see my placement overall and in my age group.  I stuck around for the awards and the 3rd place finisher in my age group was 1:39.  Being in the 40's age group is very competitive
• Splits-
• mile 1 7:52
• mile 2 7:57
• mile 3 8:00
• mile 4 7:55
• mile 5 7:26 (this was probably the downhill part)
• mile 6 7:41
• mile 7 7:38
• mile 8 7:30
• mile 9 7:34
• mile 10 7:41
• mile 11 7:36
• mile 12 7:36
• mile 13 7:42 (the fatigue had set in)

GOALS

• As of 3pm the night before, I'm still unsure of my pace goal. Part of me still wants to go for the 8's.  But if that's too fast, will I be mad at myself for having a poor race?  If I go out in 8:10's and have lots of energy at the end will I be mad for not going for it?
• Run 8:10's and speed it up 1/2 way if feeling good.
• Thank the volunteers along the course

MENTAL GAME

• My co-worker ran this race and she's about 10 years younger, 15 pounds lighter and faster.  At the beginning I considered trying to stay with her as she blurred out of my sight but I knew it's more important to run my own race and pace.
• With 1.4 miles to go I looked for people to try and catch. This kept me motivated and pushing myself harder.

FUN MOMENTS

• Our bibs were preprinted with our names on them (like we were elite or something) and strangers would call out our names to cheer us on. The first time that happened I tried to figure out who the person was and how did they know me.
• Running into some runners I knew after the race.  It's great to see and chat with them, even for a couple of minutes.
• The inside of the medal has a charm and I bought a chain and am now wearing the necklace.

The good and bad news with this new PR is that I'm faster and now I need to increase my workout paces.

Happy Running!