Wicked Half Marathon, check

Last night was a little crazy, but I think it ended up being a good situation, because it really distracted me from thinking about the race too much – by the time I got home I was really tired so I actually slept the night before my race

I started off going to Maggiano’s (a chain Italian restaurant that I happen to love) with Ben and his family and some friends.

After waiting for 2 hours and still not being seated, I had to take a cab home so that I could eat and meet up with my mom (who ran today also). But I got to spend lots of time with everyone and all the laughing and talking kept my mind too busy to be nervous!

Dinner at home ended up being cream cheese & jelly on toast.

And a peanut butter Clif bar. (This was probably easier on my stomach than very delicious but rich Italian food would have been).

The alarm went off today at 5:00 am, marking the beginning of a pretty awesome day.

Mom and I were out the door by 5:15 with our bagels and coffee in hand. We had 45 minutes to drive to get to a 7:00 am race start.

My original goal for the half marathon was a 7:23 pace, but I knew this would be ambitious for a hot day. It was about 75 degrees and humid at the start!! (Possibly 80 by the time I finished). That’s way, way hotter than optimal.

I was having fun pretty much the entire race! There weren’t a ton of spectators or anything but the scenery was beautiful near the water and through historic Salem. My first 6 miles were at about a 7:20 pace.

I actually ran with a lovely woman from the area – we were talking and swapping stories from about mile 7 to mile 9. It made things go by a lot faster. I also talked to a few other people as I went by them or they passed me. I love the universal runner friendliness and support

By mile 9 I knew my pace had probably slowed a bit from 7:20 (no clue because no Garmin or fancy gadgets – I’m old fashioned and just have a regular watch!), and based on my rising body temp and my legs beginning to get tired, I knew I’d probably need to slow down a little bit more.

Miles 10 – 13.1 felt long. My stomach was starting to slosh/hurt (normal for me whenever I run that fast for that long) and I felt pretty light-headed. I thought I would have the chance to get a Gu (or some kind of gel) around mile 7 or 8, but apparently I missed them so I went the whole way without additional fuel. (I take responsibility for this – I definitely should have brought my own just in case; you can never 100% count on races having water/fuel when they say they will). But in addition to not having proper fuel, I was at least slightly dehydrated. Being thirsty during a race is not a good sign – means you’ve passed the point where water will help much.

But I’m happy to say that I finished strong – my average pace was 7:33, my time right around 1:38 – and it was pretty cool to be the 3rd woman overall

I even got a special mug and a little prize money.

I felt pretty awesome when I finished – this was a definite PR for me, and even though it was 10 seconds per mile slower than my “goal”, considering the very high temps and the hills on the course, I was really happy with this. 12 weeks of training later…totally worth it.

***

My review:

We had no problem finding the start of the Wicked Half Marathon in Salem and got a sweet parking spot nice and close to the start. This race started and ended in the same place and was very simple to get to and navigate around. HOWEVER (and that’s a big however), I was pretty disappointed with the organization and planning of this race. At the finish line, they had bottles of Vitamin Water and had about 3 water coolers with cups outside, and 3 more inside. There were over 1,000 runners and by the time some of the later people finished, they ran out of Vitamin Waters and the water coolers were empty. Um…that’s not okay. I think most would agree that it’s unacceptable to not have sufficient water after a race, especially when it was in the 80′s. They also only had about 5 water/Gatorade stations along the 13.1 mile route, which was not enough in my opinion for the temperature. I was thirsty pretty much the entire race.

***

When I got home today, I showered and ate the leftovers from last night’s Italian dinner I missed out on!

Pesto, pasta & bread never tastes as good as it does after a long run when your hunger finally hits you. Post race I had some banana and apple – that was all I could get down for a while.

Then quickly headed out to the Boston College / Virginia Tech Football game! It was pretty ugly (BC lost badly) but still fun to go to. While at the game I snacked on a Power Bar I got at the race.

And dinner tonight really hit the spot!

Tons of chips & guac for me

Turkey burger, salad, corn on the cob (multiple servings!)

And 2 of my mom’s delicious M & M cookies with milk for dessert (I think I earned it today!)

I’ve been awake way too long…time for this great day to end! Good night

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