*Cliffs Notes: Ran my first 1/2 marathon this weekend, beat my goal time and finished in 2:29:30. Feeling very sore still 2 days later. Big thanks to the GIS ladies!**
This weekend was my very first 1/2 marathon, and it was extremely challenging! I didn't post the training schedule the last few weeks because I got insanely busy at work/school, but I did manage to keep up on most of the training days. For my next 1/2, I plan to stick to more of the short runs during the week, and hopefully use that to build speed.
So here's the review. The Run for Ryan's House race was a smaller crowd, being that it was the inaugural half marathon for this event. They usually only do a 5K fun run/walk. The first thing I noticed was that the first 6 miles were on an almost 4% incline (something I had never trained for or ran). I did a few incline workouts on the treadmill, but not nearly enough to prepare me for how tough this would be.
The first six miles were relatively slow for the pace I wanted, but I knew I would be able to pick up speed on the way down (it was a loop, so the last 6 had quite a few downhills.)
By mile 4, my calves felt like rocks. They were so tense, but I kept going. The water stations had about 3 miles in-between them, so by the time I got there I was dying for some hydration. I don't run with a hydration belt, or use Gu's or any other kind of "fuel" pack that they sell at ridiculous prices. I switched up my water/Gatorade ratio at each station, and felt fine.
The halfway point was a little scary, because we were running on a main road but with the bike lane roped off. By the time I got to mile 7 I got worried because I was behind pace and had a lot of time to make up.
Mile 8-10 were probably the fastest I'd ever run. I beat my 10 mile time from last weekend by about 3 minutes.
My Fi (who ran the race with me) finished before me and met me for the last .5 miles. I was so tired, had about 3 blisters that I could feel, and was ready to be done. I had 3 minutes to make it to the finish and beat my goal time of 2:30.
When I saw the finish line banner, and could hear the crowd, I got a burst of energy and literally sprinted to the finish line. I felt so strong and proud that I accomplished not one but two of my goals.
I beat my goal time by 1 minute. Official chip time was 2:29:30.
The worst part was finishing and not having any water. Apparently they had run out of water bottles, so Fi walked around while I sat and stretched (which actually means I sat on a curb and tried not to fall over). Finally we made it back to the car, and were on our way home. We were starving, but ended up falling asleep after showers and had a big lunch after.
All in all, the race was pretty boring scenery-wise, but I feel so fantastic that I accomplished such a huge goal of mine. I didn't walk at all, except to get water at the hydration station, and pushed through some of the worst pain I've had in awhile.
Thanks to all of you for the encouragement and accountability!