Its been a crazy ride!
I would like to start out by saying that I am overly joyed at how this half marathon went. I could beat myself up and say I did this and that wrong, which I have, but I need to stay true and say it was a good one for me.
I had one goal and that was to get under 2 hours for a half marathon.
The days leading up to the half, I ended up with a virus that would take me out of commission with a really bad sore throat for a few days and then a stomach bug that infected the whole family! I tried not to let this bother me and stick to envisioning a great race for the weekend ahead!
The day was perfect, high of 40 degrees, sun was out. I saw many familiar faces and friends at this race. It was like a running family reunion!!
I situated myself towards the front of the pack. I was going for the goal. I was feeling great, feeling rested. Ready to rock 13.1 miles!
The run was an out and back course x2. It was nicely contained in Onondaga Lake Parkway in Liverpool. One of the better things about this run is that it Benefited Ophelia's Place. A sanctuary for people to go who have eating disorders. Their vision is To change culture and to empower individuals, families, and communities to embrace health, beauty, and happiness at any shape and size to share a message of body celebration. I loved that the race was full of eating disorder statistics and what Ophelia's place has done. I didn't get a chance to read them all while racing, but such a strong message was told.
Onto the race- I started out too fast, running 8 min miles the first 3 miles, Was able to pull back a little to 8:20's which I was comfortable at. I liked the course because you got a chance to see the faster people come back on the parkway a few times and cheer them on which occasionally made me run a little harder. The last few miles I struggled keeping pace due to my foot cramping up every time I was in the toe off phase of my run. I managed to keep them in the 9 min mile range to end up with a overall time of 1:55:22!!!!!
Overall standings were: net pace 8:49/ mile: 15/55 people in my AG, 72/327 Females, 216/584 runners!!
Let me put this out that I have been consistently training for the last few months. Putting the effort into my workouts. Every workout I had served a purpose. I was focused and determined.
In the last few months I changed my diet as I was having issues with migraines, bloating, not feeling myself which in return lead me to drop 30 pounds, most which I will say was a little baby weight that was itching to come off! I really think eating well, fueling well, recovering well all had to do with my success of this half marathon.
Pros of the race- Smaller race size, contained to parkway, good amount of water stops, Flat, Nice Race shirt, gorgeous Medal, Nice post race food variety, Warming tent before and after!
Cons of race- Out and back x 2 (can be pro too, I guess!), Lack of crowd support.
I definitely have another goal in mind and that is to get under 1:50:00 for Syracuse Half in 4 weeks!!
I have some work to do!!
Happy training!!! :0)
