Last week of HM training:
December 4th-10th
Monday-rest
Tuesday-rest
Wednesday-4 miles including a 3 mile tempo
Thursday-rest
Friday- 4.5 shake out miles
Saturday- 13.16 miles plus an extra 4-5 miles trying to find my pup who jumped the fence
Sunday-2 miles chasing after pup who jumped fence
The week leading up to the race was pretty low key. On Wednesday Fleet feet hosted a holiday pub run, chase the gingerbread man and catch the fox. it was a good time with friends, hot cocoa, cookies and raffles. I also got in a great 3 mile tempo and was thankful I had Mark and Andrew(my kids middle school PE teacher) to run with. it was dark, and I have no sense of direction what so ever. We ended up passing the gingerbread man and won fleet feet gift cards.
The day before the race I just got some easy shake out miles and tried not to think about the early wake up call. That night I went to bed early, sleeping in my daughters room with the door shut so I wouldn't be bothered by the dogs and my husbands snoring. I still didn't sleep worth a darn.
RACE RECAP:
My alarm goes off at 4am, and I stay under the covers as long as possible,texting Theresa about the weather and how I don't feel like getting out of bed,lol! I eventually get dressed and moving and meet T at CVS so we could carpool to the shuttle buses. I forgot my coffee but remebred my honey stinger waffle.I drove and managed to not get us lost so the day started off on a good note! Once we park we hike through wet grass and muddy muck to climb on a shuttle bus. It was windy and cold but the bus was warm,cozy and made me not want to go back outside. Once we get to the Island, we made a porto potty stop with NO lines and fresh, clean, not used yet porto johns. Things were still going good! We have to drop off our bags and we wait around a bit trying to find our friends. we go to the market grill and had zero lines for the indoor restrooms, while the main building was packed to the brim with LONG waiting lines for the restroom. I was wondering why no one thought of the market grill? A few minutes before the start, Theresa and I make our way to the starting line. we try to get to the front as both of us were in Coral A. TRY is the operative word, we are trying our best to swim through the sea of thousands of people.
Before we get anywhere close to the front, the gun goes off and confetti cannons are spraying the runners with a rainbow of confetti and glitter. I guess I didn't have time to get nervous.I am surprisingly calm as I told myself I was treating this as a tempo run. My plan was to start off slower and then pick up my pace as the race progressed.
Mile 1-3 (7:09,7:12,7:12)
I see Bronwen about a half mile in. I paced with her the first mile of the last half and did the same for this race. She slows her pace a bit after the first mile as she was aiming for a 7:20 pace. I go on ahead and run behind an older guy named George for the next 4 miles. I knew his name was George because his friend Brad(I later found out his name was brad,but not until the end of the race) was carrying on a normal conversation with him. I see a skinny Santa Claus(minus the long white beard) ahead of me and I keep his effortless stride in my sights the next 5 miles. I see 2 girls in red tanks ahead of me and wonder if they are running the full or the half. At mile 2 and 3 I see even splits and the red tank gals are keeping an even pace ahead of me as well. Maybe I could pace off of them? I see mile 3 around 21:30, which is what I wanted to see based on my goal of 1:34 (or anything faster than 1:34:58) I just had to keep things steady. I also regretted not shedding the extra layer top I was wearing. I was already really hot.
Miles 4-6 (7:15,7:03,7:12)
These miles were spent drafting behind tall skinny santa and a few other tall guys, passing George, catching up to the red shirt girls,and trying to convince myself this was "fun" I think the marathoners split from the halfers at some point but cant remember which mile. One red shirt turns for the full.
I see the 6 mile mark around 43 minutes, which is what I needed. still on track for a PR, but I suck at mental math while running.
Miles 7-9(7:03,7:15,7:06)
After mile 6, the other red shirt girl picks up her pace and passes me, as does skinny santa. I see glimpses of brad ahead and a few men catch up to me. we stay in a pack during these miles and there are many turns in the course. I am trying really hard to do mental math. I knew If I could get to the 10 mile mark at 1:10 I could possibly see 1:30-1:32 if I ran a strong last 5k. if I saw a 1:12 I knew I could go sub 1:35, possibly closer to 1:33. When mile 9 rolls around I feel a huge mental block. Red shirt girl, brad and skinny santa were picking up the pace and i was trying to hang on. All I wanted to do was get to mile 10. If I could make it there under 1:12, it was just a 5k left and I knew I could do a 5k in 22 minutes on tired legs. somewhere during these miles, a deer jumps on to the course and freezes. Brad warns me and we cautiously yet quickly move around the deer. Red shirt girl throws the hammer down and separates herself from our little pack.
Miles 10-12 (7:06,7:12,7:12)
The course had the race clocks placed every few miles and I saw the clock at mile 10 say 1:12xx. I knew the big clock didn't match my chip time, and didn't match my fitbit( as the course would be running long). I knew if I picked my pace up I could see 1:34 and possibly 1:33xx. I wanted the 1:33xx! during these miles I catch up to brad and skinny santa, and pass a female. My legs are heavy and I really want to slow down. I jump aboard the pain train at 11.67 miles in. we are going over slick muddy bridges, muddy paths and making more turns which is slowing any momentum I try to generate. Brad pulls ahead and is having a good time, talking to volunteers and spectators. I catch up to skinny santa, but he pulls ahead of me and Im trying to use their energy to get me through. another guy passes me and I make it a point to stay with him. at mile 12, I start to close the gap between brad and skinny santa. Just 1 more mile left. I didn't even bother to look at my fitbit. I just wanted to be done. In hindsight, I wish I would have looked.
Mile 13, and last 0.16 (7:18, 6:15)
I am thankful to have Brad and Santa by or near my side. We see the 13 mile marker, Brad pulls ahead, I follow and santa is right on my heels. I see the clock go from 1:33:59 to 1:34 and I say a few choice words ( its not shalanes new catch phrase btw!)
I push ahead and cross the line at 1:34:15. I give Brad a huge hug and thank him for helping me PR. It was PR for him as well!
I try to find skinny santa but couldn't. I wait at the line for my friends and then go with Becky to grab some food. my stomach wasn't ready to eat yet though. I find Amy, change clothes and scope out the results.
To my pleasant surprise,I had placed 3rd in my AG.
I wait around for awards and finally see skinny santa, he had won his age group (60+). I couldnt resist the urge to go up to him and thank him for helping me PR. I found out his name is Geary. and we hug eachother before I find Theresa and congratulate her on her BQ-ish. her official time was 3:40:01, which is 1 second from a BQ. Actually her time was really 3:40:00:25 and the clock rounded up so she literally missed a BQ by 0:0.25! however, she ran 26.37. if it was a legitmate 26.2 her time would have been 3:38....so its a BQ in my book! AND if I ran 13.1 instead of 13.16 I would have had a 1:33:48.... oh well.
We round up our crew and find the shuttle bus to get us back to the car. It hurt going up the stairs to the bus,lol!!!! Both Theresa and I landed PRs and were able to make it back home safe and sound. I was planning on relaxing the rest of the day but......life with kids and pups call for always being on your toes. The dog decided to jump the fence and I took aver an hour to find her, catch her and get her back home. when she is loose, she wont come when she is called and thinks its a game of chase when you approach her. 5 miles later, a nice family came to my rescue. Since Fanci loves other dogs and will stop to say hello to any fellow dogs, the family brought their dog out. She ran right over to say hi and we were able to get her leash on! This has happened more times than I would like to count. SO we ended up getting an invisible fence.......
Sunday we went to the Summerville Christmas parade because my husband was in it.
The best part of the parade was seeing Santa....and my husband of course.
Final thoughts on the half marathon:
I am both pleased and disappointed with my race performance. I'm happy because, well its a PR! And, I was able to negative split the race. And my paces weren't all over the place. I was able to keep a positive attitude most of the race. Aside from miles 9-11, I was really enjoying the run. I was able to I also didn't have any GI issues after the race. I feel like I ran smart.
I'm disappointed because I feel I ran too conservative and of course slower than what I was hoping for. I know in order for me to get faster at the longer distances, I need to build my base more. the speed is there, but I need to work on speed over longer distances. In general, the course was beautiful, flat but curvy.
Post race food is way more than bagels and bananas. While I wasn't hungry at all after the race, post race food including, 2 different types of pasta dishes, hot soup,hot cocoa, lemonade, water, hot coffee, muffins, cake, assortments of sweets, Gatorade, bananas, oranges and more.
Race shirt was a long sleeve dri fit tech shirt with hood and thumb holes(men and womens cut).
Post race party included lots of beer.
I'm glad I raced this course, but I'm not sure I will do it again. Just because it makes for a long day. (The Sweet Tea half is literally right down the road from my house, Its not as fancy as Kiawah and doesn't have the frills, but Sweet Tea is convenient, and I have a home field advantage)
I am still debating if I will go back to MB and claim redemption. I really want to work on getting faster at the 5k and 10k. Speaking of 5k's......
LAST WEEK IN REVIEW.....
This past weekend I ran my last race of 2018. I knew going in it wasn't going to be a PR like last year. before the recap, I brief glance at last week:
Dec 11-17th
Monday-5 mile shakeout run
Tuesday-rest
Wednesday- 4.5 miles including 6x400
Thursday-rest
Friday-5.15 shakeout miles
Saturday- 7 miles including a 5k plus 2 miles chasing after pup who jumped the fence
Sunday- 5 easy miles
My legs felt like lead all week. Wednesday track night was a small turnout but we got the work done!
I did 6x400s at a decent clip considering I just a half marathon. Fridays shake out miles felt harder than they should and I knew going in this last race that it was going hurt.
RACE RECAP
I had signed my oldest daughter up for this race,and she was not happy about it. She didn't like having to get up at 7:30 on a weekend. But she knows it will help her for soccer so she got dressed and ready to run.
we were out the door by 8:15. I really wanted to stay home though.
We get to the race, I find Larry the Legend and we get in 2 mile warm up. My legs felt like bricks.
We make our way to the start and I see a few fast ladies I had to keep my eye on. I see Amy, and she gives me the thumbs up sign (which is code for "you got this"). I hug my daughter and tell her not to start out too fast and that as soon as I am finished, I will come back and finish the race with her.
I find a spot at the very front, close to Tony. Gun goes off.
Mile 1:
I try to pace off of Tony. A half mile in I pass him and focus on the 6 gals in front of me. I was in the 7th female spot. I tried not to get discouraged about my placement. I knew at least 3 of these gals were probably going to fade at mile 2. I see mile 1 in 6:27
It felt like I was going a lot faster than that.
Mile 2
As soon as I see the slow first mile, I knew I needed to go faster.I pick up my pace and start the rabbit hunt. I pass 3 ladies and blue shirt guy surges with me. I'm in 4th place for the ladies now. I focus on the 3 gals ahead of me and reel them in. Blue shirt guy is trying to pull ahead but I stay with him. I know he runs in the low 19s/high 18s so I wanted him close by me! I see mile 2 in 6:21.
Mile 3
I try to do mental math. I needed a 6 minute mile to see 19:30, which was my goal but honestly the way my legs were feeling all I wanted was to see sub 20!!!
I pass 2 gals and blue shirt guy surges and takes off like his britches are on fire.
I keep the 1rst place gal in my sights and just try to hang on for as long as I can. The last mile was mentally tough. I kept hearing cheers from spectators and other runners that were number 1 and 2 ladies. That kept me pushing the final stretch.
I see mile 3 in 6:29 and could barely give a kick at all (6:20)
I cross the line in what I think is 19:48 but it was really 19:55.
Andrew (my kids PE coach) was right on my tail and he landed a PR! I had told him that if he wanted to go sub 20, then keep close to me...and he did! If I wasn't able to have a good race, at least I was able to help someone else have a great one!!!
Several hugs and congrats at the finish line and then I go back and find my daughter to run with her. She didn't have any running goals in mind, other than to make it to the finish line. To my surprise, I found her sooner than I expected and I told her, that we only had a half mile left and I thought she could PR. at the 3 mile marker, that girl took off sprinting and she ran a 15 second PR!!! She was very happy and she made a bee line for the hot cocoa,lol!!!!
I ended up placing 2nd OA female
However, when awards were announced, I was called up as 3rd place, and the winner, Mary was called as 2nd place. we knew there weren't any other females ahead of us, even though initial results said a Sandra turner had won with a time of 18:5X.
no one claimed the OA prize bag which was a good thing.
The results ended up getting fixed, but we still need to get the correct prize bags. We are pretty sure that some guy ran with his girlfriends bib and it messed the results up. Ugh.
Anyways, aside from that the race went MUCH better than I expected. I am confident that if I had fresh legs, I would have been in the 19:15-19:30 range.
I cant wait until next year because my goal is to win it with a much faster time! I've got some HUGE SCARY running goals for 2018.
stay tuned!!!
If you are still reading this novel, bless your heart, you must really love me!
So how did your last race of the year go? Any big scary goals for 2018? please share!!!
I’m linking up with Holly at Hohoruns and Tricia at MississippiPiddlin‘ for their weekly wrap link. Come join the fun!
oh in non related running news, my dads dogs wife had babies! I'm an auntie!I had signed my oldest daughter up for this race,and she was not happy about it. She didn't like having to get up at 7:30 on a weekend. But she knows it will help her for soccer so she got dressed and ready to run.
we were out the door by 8:15. I really wanted to stay home though.
We make our way to the start and I see a few fast ladies I had to keep my eye on. I see Amy, and she gives me the thumbs up sign (which is code for "you got this"). I hug my daughter and tell her not to start out too fast and that as soon as I am finished, I will come back and finish the race with her.
I find a spot at the very front, close to Tony. Gun goes off.
Mile 1:
I try to pace off of Tony. A half mile in I pass him and focus on the 6 gals in front of me. I was in the 7th female spot. I tried not to get discouraged about my placement. I knew at least 3 of these gals were probably going to fade at mile 2. I see mile 1 in 6:27
It felt like I was going a lot faster than that.
Mile 2
As soon as I see the slow first mile, I knew I needed to go faster.I pick up my pace and start the rabbit hunt. I pass 3 ladies and blue shirt guy surges with me. I'm in 4th place for the ladies now. I focus on the 3 gals ahead of me and reel them in. Blue shirt guy is trying to pull ahead but I stay with him. I know he runs in the low 19s/high 18s so I wanted him close by me! I see mile 2 in 6:21.
Mile 3
I try to do mental math. I needed a 6 minute mile to see 19:30, which was my goal but honestly the way my legs were feeling all I wanted was to see sub 20!!!
I pass 2 gals and blue shirt guy surges and takes off like his britches are on fire.
I keep the 1rst place gal in my sights and just try to hang on for as long as I can. The last mile was mentally tough. I kept hearing cheers from spectators and other runners that were number 1 and 2 ladies. That kept me pushing the final stretch.
I see mile 3 in 6:29 and could barely give a kick at all (6:20)
I cross the line in what I think is 19:48 but it was really 19:55.
Andrew (my kids PE coach) was right on my tail and he landed a PR! I had told him that if he wanted to go sub 20, then keep close to me...and he did! If I wasn't able to have a good race, at least I was able to help someone else have a great one!!!
Several hugs and congrats at the finish line and then I go back and find my daughter to run with her. She didn't have any running goals in mind, other than to make it to the finish line. To my surprise, I found her sooner than I expected and I told her, that we only had a half mile left and I thought she could PR. at the 3 mile marker, that girl took off sprinting and she ran a 15 second PR!!! She was very happy and she made a bee line for the hot cocoa,lol!!!!
I ended up placing 2nd OA female
However, when awards were announced, I was called up as 3rd place, and the winner, Mary was called as 2nd place. we knew there weren't any other females ahead of us, even though initial results said a Sandra turner had won with a time of 18:5X.
no one claimed the OA prize bag which was a good thing.
The results ended up getting fixed, but we still need to get the correct prize bags. We are pretty sure that some guy ran with his girlfriends bib and it messed the results up. Ugh.
Anyways, aside from that the race went MUCH better than I expected. I am confident that if I had fresh legs, I would have been in the 19:15-19:30 range.
I cant wait until next year because my goal is to win it with a much faster time! I've got some HUGE SCARY running goals for 2018.
stay tuned!!!
If you are still reading this novel, bless your heart, you must really love me!
So how did your last race of the year go? Any big scary goals for 2018? please share!!!
I’m linking up with Holly at Hohoruns and Tricia at MississippiPiddlin‘ for their weekly wrap link. Come join the fun!
AND! BART YASSO like my comment on IG. I may or may not have squeeled like a fan girl, LOL!
