Somehow, The Marathon Returned - comments welcome!

[GollyGadget]

 

[WillRunForPizza]

Have a great race!

 

[nancipants]

(Almost) nailed it.

 

[WillRunForPizza]

Congrats! Great job!!

 

[avondale]

Congratulations on your race! Waiting to hear your report on it....

 

[nancipants]

Amelia Island Half Marathon

I decided to run the Amelia Island half marathon as I have a close friend who Iives in the area and I’d heard good things about the race (both from Jack from Rise and Run who did a video about the race a few years ago, and Coach Twiggs who lives in the area). (and yes, my friend and Coach Twiggs know each other. It’s a small town. ) We drove up Saturday and arrived about 2 pm. We got our hotel room (literally across the street from the race start/finish, it was perfect) and let my son go run on the beach because he was stir crazy from being in the car for 4+ hours (me, too!). My husband stayed with him while I walked to get my bib. I also got a hat. After that, we went to my friend’s house for dinner and my son played with her twins. We went back to the hotel early since we all needed sleep. (Side note: my husband and I were up super late the night before because he is a huge Seattle Mariners fan and they were in a do or die playoff game, that didn’t end until the FIFTEENTH inning. And since they actually won, he of course was too excited to fall asleep.) I had my usual stress dreams where I overslept and missed the race, and then my alarm went off at 5:45. I could’ve gotten up later but my son is an early riser anyway and I don’t like to rush before a race.

After getting ready, I walked to the start area and got in line for the portas. In retrospect, I could have stayed in the hotel lobby until like 5 min before race start and just used the bathrooms there! I pushed my way through the start chute to the 2:45 group and hoped I’d stay with them throughout the race. Spoilers: I did not.

Previously I had decided to run with the 3 hour pace group. But we had a cool front come through and the temps at race start were actually in the 60s! So I texted Coach to ask if 2:45 was feasible. He said go for it. I stayed with the group for the first two miles, but they were going way too fast for me. Like around 12 min miles. I knew I couldn’t sustain that for 13 miles. So I slowly started falling back. Another woman did the same and we got to talking. We stuck to the pace group intervals but slowed down to around 12:30 pace, which felt much easier. Her name was Tonya and she runs with the Jacksonville Galloway group. It was nice to have someone to chat with after falling off the group, and kept me from feeling defeated.

Once we got on the unpacked greenway portion of the course, we lost sight of the pace group completely, except for at the turnaround on that section. We slowed down to low 13s for the next 3-ish miles because the ground was uneven and we didn’t want to trip. Once we got back to the pavement, we sped up again and were in the mid-high 12s. It got hard to run together because the roads weren’t closed and we had to run single file, but we stuck together until the last 5k or so, when we both had our headphones on and were digging deep to finish. We went up a causeway bridge which sucked but the view from the top was beautiful. Then we ran the rest of the way through the fort, with beautiful SHADY trees. It really made the race so much “easier.” At this point I turned on my Western Way playlist because I was really tempted to slow down but my avg pace was still showing close to the 2:45 finish time pace and I wanted to see what I could do. Those songs pushed me through and when we were getting to the exit of the fort, I could see the 2:45 group ahead! I wondered if I could catch them, glanced as my current pace and heart rate (zone 4), as well as the mileage (still not at 13) and decided, NOPE. Thankfully, we were almost done, and once we left the fort it was literally two left turns and we were done. I saw my husband and son on the corner before the finish line and they cheered me in. I stopped my watch and it was 2:45:52. SO CLOSE!!! I had no intentions of trying to PR this race and am so happy with the results. My magic mile prediction is 2:42 and I have no doubt I can reach that with a completely paved course and even cooler weather.

Afterwards, we went back to the room, I put my legs up the wall while watching the end of the Chicago Marathon (go Conner Mantz!!!), then took a shower while my son and husband went to the pool. I joined them and enjoyed the hot tub and freezing cold pool water. The rest of the day was spent at the beach, playground, friend’s house, and bed. Not necessarily in that order. Now I am in bed again and very I don’t have to wake up early tomorrow!

This was a great race overall and I’m pretty sure I’ll be back! Here’s some photos. I totally forgot to take a pic with just me and my medal after the race. OOPS.

 

[Herding_Cats]

Great job! I needed this post from you so I can get motivated to do my training.


I’m dying at the Seattle/Detroit game comment because we were also up until freaking 1am watching that dumpster fire. When they put Kanhle in I looked at DH and said “we are losing this” because he has been terrible for the past 2 months. It was disappointing to be right.

 

[nancipants]

I’m dying at the Seattle/Detroit game comment because we were also up until freaking 1am watching that dumpster fire. When they put Kanhle in I looked at DH and said “we are losing this” because he has been terrible for the past 2 months. It was disappointing to be right.

My husband says it is the dumbest game he has ever watched. How many times did both teams get runners on base only to wiff it??? I finally went to bed after the 13th and woke up when I heard DH yell “oh my god!!!” I ran out into the living room and he was like “they won?!?!” Poor guy is not used to that.

I already promised him I’d watch every game if they get to the WS, BUT NOT IF THEY PLAY 15 INNINGS ALL THE TIME.

 

[col1]

Amelia Island Half Marathon

I decided to run the Amelia Island half marathon as I have a close friend who Iives in the area and I’d heard good things about the race (both from Jack from Rise and Run who did a video about the race a few years ago, and Coach Twiggs who lives in the area). (and yes, my friend and Coach Twiggs know each other. It’s a small town. ) We drove up Saturday and arrived about 2 pm. We got our hotel room (literally across the street from the race start/finish, it was perfect) and let my son go run on the beach because he was stir crazy from being in the car for 4+ hours (me, too!). My husband stayed with him while I walked to get my bib. I also got a hat. After that, we went to my friend’s house for dinner and my son played with her twins. We went back to the hotel early since we all needed sleep. (Side note: my husband and I were up super late the night before because he is a huge Seattle Mariners fan and they were in a do or die playoff game, that didn’t end until the FIFTEENTH inning. And since they actually won, he of course was too excited to fall asleep.) I had my usual stress dreams where I overslept and missed the race, and then my alarm went off at 5:45. I could’ve gotten up later but my son is an early riser anyway and I don’t like to rush before a race.

After getting ready, I walked to the start area and got in line for the portas. In retrospect, I could have stayed in the hotel lobby until like 5 min before race start and just used the bathrooms there! I pushed my way through the start chute to the 2:45 group and hoped I’d stay with them throughout the race. Spoilers: I did not.

Previously I had decided to run with the 3 hour pace group. But we had a cool front come through and the temps at race start were actually in the 60s! So I texted Coach to ask if 2:45 was feasible. He said go for it. I stayed with the group for the first two miles, but they were going way too fast for me. Like around 12 min miles. I knew I couldn’t sustain that for 13 miles. So I slowly started falling back. Another woman did the same and we got to talking. We stuck to the pace group intervals but slowed down to around 12:30 pace, which felt much easier. Her name was Tonya and she runs with the Jacksonville Galloway group. It was nice to have someone to chat with after falling off the group, and kept me from feeling defeated.

Once we got on the unpacked greenway portion of the course, we lost sight of the pace group completely, except for at the turnaround on that section. We slowed down to low 13s for the next 3-ish miles because the ground was uneven and we didn’t want to trip. Once we got back to the pavement, we sped up again and were in the mid-high 12s. It got hard to run together because the roads weren’t closed and we had to run single file, but we stuck together until the last 5k or so, when we both had our headphones on and were digging deep to finish. We went up a causeway bridge which sucked but the view from the top was beautiful. Then we ran the rest of the way through the fort, with beautiful SHADY trees. It really made the race so much “easier.” At this point I turned on my Western Way playlist because I was really tempted to slow down but my avg pace was still showing close to the 2:45 finish time pace and I wanted to see what I could do. Those songs pushed me through and when we were getting to the exit of the fort, I could see the 2:45 group ahead! I wondered if I could catch them, glanced as my current pace and heart rate (zone 4), as well as the mileage (still not at 13) and decided, NOPE. Thankfully, we were almost done, and once we left the fort it was literally two left turns and we were done. I saw my husband and son on the corner before the finish line and they cheered me in. I stopped my watch and it was 2:45:52. SO CLOSE!!! I had no intentions of trying to PR this race and am so happy with the results. My magic mile prediction is 2:42 and I have no doubt I can reach that with a completely paved course and even cooler weather.

Afterwards, we went back to the room, I put my legs up the wall while watching the end of the Chicago Marathon (go Conner Mantz!!!), then took a shower while my son and husband went to the pool. I joined them and enjoyed the hot tub and freezing cold pool water. The rest of the day was spent at the beach, playground, friend’s house, and bed. Not necessarily in that order. Now I am in bed again and very I don’t have to wake up early tomorrow!

This was a great race overall and I’m pretty sure I’ll be back! Here’s some photos. I totally forgot to take a pic with just me and my medal after the race. OOPS.

Congratulations on a great race

 

[superchime]

Congratulations on your race!!