My race season has officially come to an end for 2013 with the completion of the Smuttynose Half Marathon today. It was a light season with a few 5Ks, the Seacoast Century bike ride and of course the half marathon. As I have discussed a bit in some of my other blog entries, I found it a challenge to find the time to balance training for the century and the half marathon. Ultimately, I did a very abbreviated version of Hal Higdon's intermediate training program paired with cycling and crossfit. I was curious to see how my results this time would compare to my 1:58 at the Half at Hampton (same course just colder!)in February of 2012. I was optimistic given some decent training runs throughout the summer and fall, but knew I did not do a ton of prep miles during the week.
In the beginning of the race, everything was a bit hectic. I thought I gave myself enough time, but got stuck in some serious traffic trying to get into Hampton Beach for the race start. I grabbed my bib at about 7:40 and went straight to the porta potties to get a spot in line...this of course is always the slowest process in any race. I then had to jet back to my car to get rid of my warmer clothes (the wind was gusting very heavily at this point), luckily, with the large crowds, I did not miss the start (I just got stuck in a slower wave in the beginning). My Runkeeper app was a bit delayed but I finally got that working and set Pandora up for some tunes.
Overall, the first 6 miles felt very good. I was keeping the pace below 9 min miles and fueling at the appropriate times. Somewhere around mile 8 or 9 my Pandora stopped working which definitely caused me to lose some serious speed and momentum. I find the music really pushes me along. In retrospect, this was the point in the run where I lost the opportunity to PR. I was shooting for under 1:58, but without my music to pace, I lost valuable minutes. This combined with possibly being over aggressive in my early miles put me behind my goal. When I heard Runkeeper chip in that I was over 9 min miles, my morale started to slip. Then, I saw this super ripped girl chugging past me just doing tiny shuffle steps and really swinging her arms fast. I thought, hmmm, she seems to be pushing forward, I'll try her strategy. Sure enough, I began to pass people in front of me. Unfortunately, I had lost too many minutes during the Pandora debacle, but at least I finished with my second fastest time to date. Around mile 12, my friend from crossfit, Chandler, helped me push through the final stretch as he had just parted with his sister, Alaka, who was continuing on for the full marathon. It was great to have someone I knew at the end, but even with his help, I did have a feeling it was not going to be a PR day.
I was glad to finally finish though because that was when the rain/wind really started to pick up. I don't think it has rained for almost 3 weeks, but today it rained. It is not so bad when running but makes the after party not so enjoyable. I was thrilled to get a chance to meet up with my friend from college, Colleen. I often turn to her blog Live Free and Run for running inspiration. I knew I'd see her at the finish but not during the run! She and her husband were toughing out the bad weather to enjoy a cool beer after the race. It was so great to catch up and talk shop about running and teaching. Hopefully I can get down to DC for a race at some point--I'm sure it will be much warmer than this run was!
In the end, I'm glad I dragged myself out of bed this morning for the half marathon, but am disappointed that I did not PR after having a strong start. Nonetheless, I was not nearly as disciplined in my training regimen and I probably was 5-10lbs heavier compared to February 2012 when I was getting in wedding shape. 2:02.25 is not too shabby for a 32 year old who only had time for runs on the weekend--I guess I'll have to settle for the satisfaction of getting in a tough workout when I otherwise might have been sleeping or vegging in the apartment on this rainy October Sunday.
Week of September 30th- October 6th
Monday- AM Yoga/Boot Camp & PM Crossfit
Tuesday- AM Walk & PM Crossfit
Wednesday- AM Yoga/Boot Camp & Lunch Jog
Thursday- PM Crossfit
Friday- AM Yoga/Boot Camp
Saturday- Rest
Sunday- Smuttynose Half Marathon
*5 sets of 20 pushups for 6 days
*4 perfect bricks for a total of 77
Colleen & I post race. I think I have about 3 layers on. Poor Colleen, she needed more warm clothes! Though I paired my warm clothes with flip flops which was not the best choice.
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