VRF Half Marathon – 1st Female (1:28:06)

At least this made me smile

The goal: sub-1:25. My time: 1:28:06. Feelings: disappointment, slightly embarrassed, yet hopeful (in no particular order).

I felt very fit, my workouts went well, heck I even ran an 18:45 5K two weeks ago. Everything pointed to a PR. All I needed to do was hold 6:26 pace…

So what happened? Well, first of all I need to accept that I’m not a robot. My body doesn’t do everything I command. Some days you feel great and can push harder than you ever thought possible, and other days your body just doesn’t respond the way you want it to. I also have to accept that I can’t race like a fiend every other weekend. I’ve had a long year: I did a couple of tune up races before the One City Marathon in March, then pushed my body and mind beyond the wall in that race. I followed that up with the Regional Duathlon Championships (run – bike – run). And then it was on to a full triathlon season that included two half ironmans in the brutal heat of the summer. I think I underestimated how much of a toll racing 5 1 /2 hours (70.3 miles) in the summer takes on the body, especially when you are new to it. Once the triathlon season ended I was probably a little too eager to jump right back into running. I ended up doing two 5Ks and two half marathons in the span of 6 weeks. Throw in a full time job as an Analyst (with a recent promotion *yay me*), a social life, and of course training… you see my point ;-)

If it was up to my coach I’d probably only race 3 or 4 times a year. I’d have long training blocks and then focus exclusively at performing well at those key races. But I love racing *sigh*. I like the ritual of putting on my singlet, pinning on my race bib, lining up at the start, hearing the gun go off, pushing my body to the limit, and crossing the finish line completely spent….and then complaining about how “I’ll never do another one.”

The Ritual. I also enjoy repping my sponsors:
Point 2 Running Company & Flat-Out Events

How the race played out

NOT THE WAY I WANTED IT TO! My coach and I put together a game plan – what I would need to do each mile to hit my goal time. It sounded fast! But I put the work in and felt fit and ready to give it a go. The morning of the race was cold (~32 degrees). There was frost on the ground and a chill in the air. I haven’t raced in weather like that since February. But I was grateful. I prefer racing in the cold :-) 

I did a 2 mile jog, chatted with some friends – including Greg Dawson who was pacing the 1:30 group. I made the decision to follow him for the first 3 miles to make sure I went out conservatively.

Miles 1 – 3 felt easy and flew by. Someone commented that I was the lead woman. Which, to be honest, I didn’t even realize. I try not to pay too much attention to other female competitors in endurance races…at least not that early on in the race. I learned my lesson earlier this year…RUN YOUR OWN RACE! You don’t have control over anyone but yourself. Plus you never know what’s going to happen. I’ve seen people way more talented and faster than myself end up walking or dropping out. Ever heard of the term "Any Given Sunday"... yeah well, in my opinion that doesn't just apply to football ;-)

Mile 1: 6:53

Mile 2: 6:48

Mile 3: 6:50

Thanks Ryan! (Congrats on the overall win)

I felt ready to pick up the pace and go after my PR so I left the pack and was on my own.

Mile 4: 6:33

CNU has such a beautiful campus

 

My biggest struggle…

Running solo. I underestimated how difficult this is. At the time, there were four men ahead of me but they were a long ways away. I couldn’t even see them. I was virtually running alone. All I had was the lead female cyclist riding along side me and the Peninsula Bicycling Association volunteers riding in front of me. I did, however, take some comfort in their company because we all knew each other. Another thing that helped a ton was having my friends at different points along the course. You guys are the best!

With the lead female cyclist

My goal was to stay in the low 40s for the next couple of miles. I’m pleased with my pacing but it felt a little harder than I expected. Usually when I run with a pack or I have people in front of me to key off of I can relax a little…it doesn’t feel like I’m working as hard..if that makes any sense.

Mile 5: 6:43

Mile 6: 6:43

Toughest part of the course

Dear Boundary Rd (miles 7 and 8) – Your uneven terrain / gravel and hills absolutely suck. I was trying hard and actually felt like I was running fast but then I’d look at my Garmin and realize I was slowing down ugh.

Mile 7: 6:44

Mile 8: 6:47

The Course

Those miles hurt. My legs were not happy. And of course I had one more hard section to push through - Museum Drive. At mile 9, I heard another runner coming up behind me. I was actually relieved. Sweet! Someone to run with. Yeah not so much. He blew by me. I didn’t like that lol.

Mile 9: 6:47

Mile 10: 6:48

Not a happy camper

It’s just a 5K

No matter how crappy I’m feeling towards the end of a race I will ALWAYS push as hard as I possibly can. It’s the one thing I’m very proud of. I never give up. I knew I was pretty far off my goal time. I also knew I had a couple of minutes on the next female runner. I could have eased up and called it a day. But I didn’t!!

Mile 11: 6:30

Mile 12: 6:31

Mile 13: 6:17

Thought about leaving this part out of my recap, but who cares. I’ll be honest. I’ve done this race a few times now and the finish is always the same. You enter the Stadium at Christopher Newport University, make a right on the track, and run on the track to the finish line. Well, they changed it this year. They coned off the section to make sure we made a left. Well apparently that didn’t register in my fatigued brain and I ran straight through the cones and went the wrong way. Of course people were screaming “YOU’RE GOING THE WRONG WAY”. I had to make a u-turn. I was mortified.

Seconds before my faux pas

I finished in 1 hour, 28 minutes and 6 seconds. Stats: 1^st female (178 women); 6^th overall (351 men and women)

So that’s the gist of it. I tried and I failed. Justttt kidding ;-) I learned a lot from this race. Even though I didn’t run the time I wanted I’m still confident that I’m more than capable of running faster. It just didn’t come together on Sunday. The positives – my splits were pretty even, I was still able to kick it in the last 5K, and what I’m most excited about is how fit I am aerobically (from long course triathlon training). My coach and I discussed this right after the race ... I felt like if I slowed it down about 10 seconds per mile I could have held that pace for a long ways. Maybe not for an entire marathon, but definitely past the 20-mile mark. I watched a video of myself (below) taken less than a minute after crossing the finish line (thank you Rich for capturing that classic moment) and my breathing was normal / steady and I was able to carry on a conversation (mostly complaining).

With that being said, I have a huge goal for next year. I want to break 3 hours in the marathon. I know… I only ran a 1:28 half. But I KNOW the fitness is there. I am confident of that. So I plan on listening to my coach - take some time off from racing, regroup, and train without interruption so I can be fit and ready for next year.

HAPPY HOLIDAYS <3 <3

Governor’s Land 5K (Four-peat)

I’ll admit it. I’m totally not in the mood to update my blog. But I made a promise to myself at the beginning of the year that I would do a write-up after each race. Sort of like a New Year’s Resolution. In some ways it’s been great. Blogging has been a way to document my evolution as an athlete over the past couple years. I can now go back and read how I felt, what my thought process was at the time, and how I performed.  So here it goes…blog write-up #15 of the year. Have I really raced 15 times this year?!

On Saturday I did the Governor’s Land 5K (in Williamsburg, VA). I’ve done this race every year since 2013. And now I’ve won this race every year since 2013 J

2016 Governor's Land 5K
(Colonial Road Runner's Grand Prix)

I remember back in 2013 crossing the finish line in 19 minutes and 14 seconds and being in total shock. At the time it was a HUGE PR. Before that race I struggled to break the 20-minute barrier. In fact, my times were generally around 20:30 (6:35/mile pace). So what changed? The summer of 2013 I decided I wanted to try my first triathlon. I bought a bathing suit, got membership to my local swim club and hopped in the pool twice a week. I also bought a bike and began riding around my neighborhood regularly. I did my first triathlon that July. I was a disaster. But it was so much fun! And for some reason it was the perfect recipe for improvement. I stopped getting injured (because I was using different muscle groups), plus I was able to increase my training volume (because, again, I was using different muscle groups). Instead of running all the time and dealing with the frustrations of IT band syndrome, runner’s knee, plantar fasciitis and even a stress fracture, I found that the mixture of swimming, biking, and running made me stronger and helped develop muscles in areas I didn’t even know I had muscles!

Back in 2013. I know...real attractive

Fast forward to Saturday, October 29^th. Expectations = Zero. Honestly! I had no time goals. My coach and I didn’t even have a game plan. We decided to train through this race and ramp up my run mileage in order to have a shot at breaking my Half Marathon PR (in 2 weeks). My coach even said to me before this race: “You’re going to be tired. It’s going to hurt. Don’t expect much.” Sooooo… I didn’t. I ran an 18:58 5K at the Crawlin Crab a few weeks prior so I figure I was in shape to run around the same time. I also knew this race would be competitive and the win wasn’t guaranteed – it was a “Grand Prix” Race (a competition between the local running clubs where you could score points for your team).

The morning of the race my alarm went off and I was exhausted. I did not want to get up. Even hit snooze a few times and briefly thought about blowing the race off entirely *yikes*. But once I got up and got going the “race day routine” took over and I was a little more fired up about it. I got to the race site with not a lot of time to spare…I hit snooze to many times :-/ Quickly got my race packet, ran into a few friends and did a two mile warm up. And then of course the nerves started kicking in as it got closer to race time. Ugh 5Ks are soooo very painful.  It’s my favorite distance to race because it’s over fast, but the last mile and a half is ALWAYS miserable.

5, 4, 3, 2, 1…..

And we were off. The first half mile was crazy crowded and I found myself trying not to trip over people (I have long legs = long stride). I glanced at my Garmin and decided to settle into ~5:55 pace. I felt great. I went through the first mile in 5:57 (perfect). I was in third place for the women at this point. I’m not going to lie, I was a little surprised by how many females were in the mix. But I know the first mile in a 5K doesn’t mean that much. A lot of people go out too fast and fall back quickly so I just focused on myself and stared at some of the men down the road. 

I couldn’t believe how great I felt. I honestly thought I could run around an 18:30. Ha! That plan quickly went to hell. My body was not having it. About halfway through the second mile the pain started setting in. And as I approached the second mile marker I was feeling “it” – the lactic acid building, sting in your legs, “I hate this pain” – kind of feeling that you only get from 5Ks. To my non-runner friends or those that don’t flat out race a 5K – think about grade school gym class, when the phys-ed teacher makes you run, you go out too hard, you’re out of breath and your body starts to slow down and it’s just miserable! That’s sort of how this feels (in my opinion).

Exhibit A

This was after my first Half Ironman in June. But my expression says it all....don't you think?
In this pic I was actually explaining to my Dad that I would never do another Half Ironman.
Of course I went on to do another one 3 months later (and 11 minutes faster ;-)

Back to mile marker 2

I had slowed significantly and went through the second mile in 6:10. Still not quite used to the speed after dedicating so many months to Half Ironman training. With one mile to go I decided there was no way I was letting myself run over 19 minutes. I got up on my toes, pumped my arms and started driving my knees…as painful as it was. The last mile of every race I try to focus on not succumbing to the pain. I just try to tell myself, “no matter what, you can’t slow down. Every second counts.”

I crossed the finish line in 18 minutes and 45 seconds; my last mile was a 6:03. I didn’t PR, but I DID run my fastest time on that course.

2013: 19:14

2014: 18:50

2015: 19:11

2016: 18:45

...and walked away with another win.

Thank you for the gift card to Goodman & Sons Jewelers <3 <3

With my friend Jess Burcham

Good luck at the Richmond Marathon in two weeks!

Next up...I'll be wearing my Point 2 Running / Flat Out Events singlet at the VRF Half Marathon in two weeks. Focus: a PR of course. I ran a 1:26:57 at this race last year. I'd like to run well under that. My coach has been giving me pretty brutal workouts. Hoping it all pays off!

Good luck to everyone racing in the New York City Marathon this weekend. And a special good luck wish to one of my childhood friends (and one of the fastest people I know), Alexandra Niles, who will be racing in the women's professional/elite division of the race.