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