Richmond Half Marathon

Today I ran the Richmond Half Marathon and it was so much fun!

I was a little worried these past few weeks that the race wouldn't be as successful as it ended up being.

After running the Wicked 10K on Halloween my quads were really sore and I took a week off of training. I ran 5 miles this past Monday and felt great and was glad to be back in the game for my half, but than I started feeling pretty crummy on Tuesday. On Tuesday I didn't feel so great at work and had a nose that wouldn't stop running. I woke up Wednesday morning with a 100.4 fever but went to work anyways. Everyone in the office had been sick, and I had stuff to do. Luckily Ida, our tropical rain storm was here and work let us out early. When I got home on Wednesday I went to bed at 5:30 and slept until 6:30 Thursday morning. Nothing like 13+ hours to fight an illness. My fever was gone and I felt much better, but I still had a cough and stuffy nose. I was worried about my training and being able to run Saturday but I figured I should take care of my body so I would have the best shot at a good run.

So this morning I woke up (at 4am) feeling much better, still a cough lingering but with basically two weeks off of running, only my one 5 mile run on Monday, I wasn't sure how I was going to feel. I popped a DayQuil to help with the cough and started to get ready for the race.

I have been training for Richmond for the past 3 months and even though training hasn't been easy for this race,
ie. Tuesday am long runs before work instead of weekend long runs due to crazy schedules
and even doing my last long 11 mile run in Phoenix on vacation while visiting my sister.

It's been hard to stay motivated but I feel I was successful in getting my miles in. It definitely was helpful having my "training partner" Audrey there to keep me accountable. I put training partner in quotes since we only were actually able to run long together 2 or 3 times due to our conflicting schedules. We were really good about texting each other after our runs and letting one another know our time, pace how we felt ect. It definitely helped. Thanks Audrey.

Sean was also extremely helpful with my long runs. Since I had to do a lot of morning runs, Sean helped me get out of bed in the morning, and helped pace me. He's gotten so much faster this year. We did a lot of out and back loops and he would run the first 3 miles with me and push me at a good pace. I would run another few miles before turning around and by than I was able to keep my pace. Thanks honey!

So anyways, back to this morning. Sean and I woke up bright and early at 4 am, showered, packed and got on the road by 5:15. Sean was racing the 8K that started at 7 and my half marathon started at 7:30. We wanted to get there early enough to get good parking. We got good parking and of course since I was trying to stay hydrated I had to pee like a race horse. I left Sean at the car and bolted to find the nearest port-a-potty. Luckily I didn't have to go too far. I felt much better when I came back. I got my timing chip on my shoe, race number on my shirt and I was ready to go. Sean was already ready waiting for me.

We walked the 2 blocks to the start and the race jitters started to kick in again. Sean went for a quick run to warm up while I waited with all of our "stuff" and waiting for Audrey who was getting dropped off shortly.

Sean came back, we found Audrey and than it was time for Sean to start the race. I gave him a good luck kiss and he went to get his place in the corral.

Of course by now I had to pee again, so it was off to stand in the long line port-a-potties. We picked the line that never moved so Audrey went to look for a "spot" to pee. She ended up peeing in the stairwell, while I finally made it to the front of the line. We didn't have much time left at this point, so we jogged through the huge crowds of people to our start, with only about 5 minutes to spare. We wished each other luck and than the gun went off telling us it was time for our race to start.

This was my second race running with an iPod. I ran the Shamrock Half in March with an iPod and it helped the race go by quickly, so I made a special playlist specifically for today's race. I started off at a pretty good pace. Usually I go out too fast, but there were a lot of people and I didn't want to weave in and out too quickly. I did my first mile in 7:54, which was still my fastest mile, but much closer to my average pace, and it felt like I was running easy. The music on my iPod seemed to switch to appropriate music when I needed an extra push. The people watching and cheering were helping as well. The next thing I knew I was half way through the race and still felt strong.

It wasn't until about mile 8 when I started to struggle. I had my slowest mile of 8:56 but kept telling myself to stay strong. I had told everyone my goal was 1:55, but my "secret" goal was to break 1:50. I didn't think it was going to be possible, but at this point it was very possible, I just had to stay on track and not blow it. I had painted my fingernails black so I could stay tough and at this point I looked at my fingers quite a bit and told myself to stay strong, be tough and push through it. After this the next few miles seemed to go by pretty quick, until mile 11. Around mile 11 my legs felt like they were dragging. I only had 2.1 miles to go. Anyone can run 2 miles I kept telling myself. My music was crappy at this point too, I had to skip 2 songs I think. Than I found a good one, I don't remember which one, and I pushed it. I knew I had to keep it around an 8:30 pace for the last two miles and I would break 1:50. I knew I could do it if I stayed strong.

I don't remember much else except I kept thinking where is the downhill. The last 1/4 mile of the course is downhill and I really wanted that part to come quick. Finally I was there and running towards the finish. I saw Sean cheering me on around 13 miles and knew I was going to make it.

Seeing Sean, the finish line and passing the 13 mile mark!

Just a few more strides

I crossed the finish line with an official time of 1:49:48. An almost 8 minute PR! I was so happy, but my body was tired. I got my medal, my "race blanket" and probably three cups of water. Overall I felt really good. I went to get my stuff that we checked in the race trucks, and than I was freezing. Luckily I had warm layers to put on, and dry layers too! I found Sean and gave him the good news about my race. He told me the good news from his 8K. He ran 42:45, a 6 1/2 minute faster time from last year. His interval training and running with me is definitely paying off.

Keeping warm in my "race blanket"

We missed Audrey, Ryan and JoJo but we eventually caught up with all of them. Everyone did awesome. Audrey wanted to break 2 hours and she did, yay!

This guy ran the entire half marathon with a gas mask on!

The best sign ever!

The full marathon finishers started coming about an hour later. We had quite a few friends running in this race so we stayed around until all of them finished.

The marathon winner

First overall female winner for the marathon

Jim Bates, the Colonial Road Runner Super Star

This guy is well known for running races in a tutu

Good job Laura!

Jami is smiling!

Brian finishes his first Marathon!

Jenni finishes her first marathon, flying all the way from Minnesota to run it!

After an exciting day of racing we came back to the house took a nice warm shower, a nap and pigged out on Olive Garden leftovers.

I'm still in race excitement mode, and can't wait for my next race, luckily it's just a 5K next Saturday.

Splits:
Mile 1: 7:54
Mile 2: 8:19
Mile 3: 8:10
Mile 4: 8:04
Mile 5: 8:21
Mile 6: 8:24
Mile 7: 8:10
Mile 8: 8:56
Mile 9: 8:35
Mile 10: 8:32
Mile 11: 8:32
Mile 12: 8:32
Mile 13: 7:59
last .1: 6:03

Age Group 63/559
Female 244/?
Overall 824/4578