Richmond Half Marathon Recap!
Mile - Pace
1- 15:47
2- 16:15
3- 15:58 - First GU
4- 16:15
5- 15:58
6- 15:58 - Second GU
7- 15:30
8- 16:46
9- 16:27 3rd GU
10- 16:33 Pickle Juice
11- 16:04 Last GU
12- 16:46
13- 16:21
0.4- 13:21
Chip Time -3:36:41.8 - Pizza Baby!
Friday night! We arrived at the race expo around 6pm - I was very overwhelmed and I think my husband was kind of happy because that kept me from spending all of our money at my very first race expo. It was crazy!! I got my bib, we walked around a little and I grabbed my t-shirt and we left fairly quickly. Checked into our hotel and found the nearest Olive Garden. It worked really well for the VA 10 miler so Hello new race day tradition. To be honest I was so stressed from the weeks work, and the hectic drive down and the insane packet pick up that I wasn't even thinking of the half marathon. We ate and headed back to the hotel. I took a hot bath and went to bed. Time to wake up!
Thanks to
@DopeyBadger for giving me the mental shift I needed.
[GALLERY=]
Richmond Half marathon by
Katie Little, on Flickr[/GALLERY]
For breakfast we hit up dunkin donuts.. but then I decided that I'd rather go to the starbucks across the street and get an everything bagel. So we left the DD drive thru and headed for the bucks.. They had everything bagels but no cream cheese. Nothing new on race day means no dry bagels. So we go back to DD and Josh gets a plain bagel with cream cheese. But DD doesn't give you a bagel and a little cup of cream cheese. They put the cheese on the bagel. So now I have a dry everything bagel and a plain bagel with cream cheese. So I made 2 Franken Bagels half plain and half everything. Yum!
We decided to park close to the finish line which met we had a 3 block walk to the start line. We get there and holly crap the race day panic sat in. I peed like 18 times and every single missed run in the past year flashed through my mind along with every bad run and every bad race. I wanted to throw up! I wanted to find the race director and ask if it was too late to shift down to the 8k. I was more terrified at the beginning of this race than any other race this year.
7:25am - Josh finds his spot past the start line and I find my spot in my corral. I choke down a stroop waffle. They are super yummy but have you ever tried to eat one when you already want to puke? I don't recommend it. One of the guys was carrying a hiking stick.. I was terrified of what I signed up for (turns out that guy was just over prepared). I think the women in front of me could tell I was super nervous because they turned around and started chatting with me. 2 of them were speed walkers and have done several half marathons. They were giving advice and telling me how awesome half marathons are. The other girl was running her first. She was doing intervals. She was about my size and we kinda looked alike. She mentioned her intervals were run for a min and walk for 30 second. I thought I had found a buddy to stick with and the thought of that made me way less nervous. The air horn blew and it was that moment that I lost my buddy!
Miles 1-3- the plan was to be so chill I was worried about the time restriction. I'd give my self an A+ on that. This was the first ever that I was able to just do my own thing and not get caught up with the people around me. I started slow and I kept my pace comfortable for me. My intervals were messed up some how. My phone had me running for 1:30. I couldn't fix it for a while because there were so many people around. So I just kept my phone out and focused on the timer to make sure I was correcting it. About a mile in I was able to fix them. I felt great.
Miles 4-6 - the goal was to set cruise control. I give myself another A. I had planned to wear my light weight jacket the whole race, so I pinned my bib to the outside; however, even though it was high 40s and windy the sun was beating down on me so between runs I adjusted each safety pin to my t-shirt and get my jacket tied around my waist. It sucked. So I carried it until mile 5. The local running store had a table where they would take your jacket and you could pick it up at the store after or they would donate it with the rest of the jackets they cleaned from the course. Wardrobe issues aside. mile 6 is where it got a little hilly.. and to my surprise I caught myself running up the couple hills that were there.. In the past 11 races, I genuinely can't remember a single time that I "accidentally" ran up a hill. I've either walked it or considered it a challenge and very purposefully pushed myself up the hill. So that was cool.
Miles 7-9 - the goal was to keep it on cruise control but start to focus in on my speed a little more.. I give myself a B+. I definitely tuned into my surroundings and kept it on cruise control, I just didn't focus on my speed. At the start of mile 7 "go the distance" came on and I started to blink back tears - too soon to get emotional! So I shot a text to my husband and said "warm up done - time to crush this 10k!" I was definitely feeling the moment but I wasn't feeling the "crush it" or the "speed" part. By mile 9 I did start to fade but 15 mins into mile 10 I was good.
Miles 10 -11 - My goal was to focus on speed a little more. I give myself a D and I'm not mad about it. I really was enjoying it. I chatted with people as I passed them or as they passed me. I cheered the volunteers, thanked all the cops and yes I took the pickle juice shot at mile 10. Going into mile 11 it really sat in that I was going to finish a half marathon and the tears were harder to hold in.
Miles 12 -13.1 - The goal was to be in pain from pushing myself and emptying the tank. I give myself a F. Still not mad about it. I passed a few people and a few more passed me. It was so much fun. I could feel the blisters but I was so happy. I was especially chatty and the volunteers were especially loud. I will say, there were a couple shorter stretches before the final down hill bit, so with every turn I thought "is this the one." The anticipation for the finish was building and when I finally saw it, I lost it. My finish line photo isn't the best, but that's because I was ugly crying the whole way down that hill! I just started thinking about January when I started this whole thing. I didn't think that I would every get here. This never felt real to me. It still doesn't. I've become such a confident person this year. I've learned that I'm a fighter. I found an outlet for my type A crazy planner person that makes the other unplanned aspects of my life a little more manageable. I've only had 2 panic attacks this year and did I mention that I never even thought I'd do this?!
Also - in my last entry when I said "Screw the 5K PR." I meant it in a "Screw the PR I'm going to just have fun and look at Christmas lights" kind of way. Not the negative and whiny kind of way.
PS.. These pictures cost me $80!!!!!! (My only complaint about this race btw). So please enjoy LOL!
[GALLERY=]
Richmond Half marathon by
Katie Little, on Flickr[/GALLERY]
[GALLERY=]
Richmond Half marathon by
Katie Little, on Flickr[/GALLERY]
[GALLERY=]
Richmond Half Marathon by
Katie Little, on Flickr[/GALLERY]
[GALLERY=]
Richmond Half Marathon by
Katie Little, on Flickr[/GALLERY]
[GALLERY=]
Richmond Half Marathon by
Katie Little, on Flickr[GALLERY=][/GALLERY][/GALLERY]
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Richmond Half Marathon by
Katie Little, on Flickr[GALLERY=][/GALLERY][/GALLERY]
[GALLERY=]
Richmond Half Marathon by
Katie Little, on Flickr[/GALLERY]
[GALLERY=]
Richmond Half Marathon by
Katie Little, on Flickr[/GALLERY]
[GALLERY=]
Richmond Half Marathon by
Katie Little, on Flickr[/GALLERY]
[GALLERY=]
Richmond Half Marathon by
Katie Little, on Flickr[/GALLERY]