New Years Double "Day" Half Marathon (Race Recap)

Tuesday, January 1
Allen, TX
Half Marathon #73
Texas Half Marathon #3
Weather - Colder (if possible!!), windy, drizzling (a bit)

But wait!! THERE'S MORE!

When we left off, I was whining about how cold and tired and sore I was. Most of that didn't change. We stopped at Whataburger on the way back to the hotel and sat in front of the fireplace in the lobby and ate. It was glorious. We showered and watched Rock of Ages. (Yes, I love that movie and I have seen it a BILLION TIMES). Dinner was, uh, carb loading at Papacito's. Lisa was horrified that I had never had table side guacamole. And I still never have. It was too busy for them to get the cart to our table, so it was just brought out to us. I love Mexican food.

Yes. I know that it was New Year's Eve. I still went to bed at 10:30. SO EXHAUSTED AND SORE.

Race Day

It was going to be another long sleeves and long pants kind of day. I had learned my lesson from the day before and I was not about to have another freezing day. Of course I was so sore I could barely move. We had a new and different plan to start out my first race of 2013.

Stop #1 - CVS. Libby charged $10 (BEST $10 OF MY LIFE) to drop to the half. I had to stop and get cash. Also picked up a diet coke and a Luna bar.

Stop #2 - Donuts. I think I'm determined to convince myself that this is the best pre-race food ever invented.

We arrive at the park and get a pretty good parking spot again. We hobble over to get our race distances changed. Lisa was also very sore and was dropping to the 5k. Bathroom break, and then I literally sat in the car until about a minute before my wave started. In fact, as I was walking up, there was a 30 second countdown to my wave, but I felt rushed, and spotted Lesley and decided to start near her anyway. She was determined to run the full again, but was aiming to run the first half in 2:30-2:45. I only DREAMED of keeping pace with her.

The first mile was the worst EVER. It was the most painful jog I probably have ever done (well, I'm likely exaggerating, but it HURT). I was determined NOT to walk. I have been "giving up" a lot in races lately, and even though this race was going to be painful, I didn't want to be a total wimp about running 13.1 since I'd already cut my scheduled distance in half.

I caught up to Lesley around mile 1.5 and jogged past, commenting, maybe my legs WILL cooperate today. My muscles loosened up and I was NOT feeling terrible. What.

I made sure to get a picture of this sign at the first aid station. So cute.

Even though it wasn't as wet out, I would argue that day 2 was actually colder. I pretty much kept my gloves on the ENTIRE race. I had to stop and use the bathroom at the turnaround again (wtf, me), and forgot to lock the door of the potty. Luckily, I didn't get walked in on until after I was done. Oops.

I was feeling.... good. What???? I cautiously started moving a bit faster. I came through the halfway point feeling better than I have in AGES during a race. Lisa had waited to get a picture of me since she had finished a few minutes earlier.

I set out for my last loop. I won't lie, I was SMILING. I WAS HAPPY. Dropping to the half is one of the best running decisions I have ever made. I got faster. And faster. What??? Around mile 11 I passed Lesley heading the other direction. She wasn't feeling well and also planned on dropping.

I didn't cross the line in anywhere CLOSE to a great time, but I ran the ENTIRE course, which is HUGE for me lately.

Official Time - 2:30:32
Official 3.6 Miles - 47:14 (Pace - 13:07, includes bathroom)
Official 6.55 Miles - 1:19:54 (Overall pace - 12:12)
Official 10.15 Mile - 2:01:59 (Overall pace 12:01)
Official Pace - 11:29 (by my calculations, I ran the last 2.95ish miles at a sub 10 pace. Am I right? I suck at math)
Overall Place - 250/446
Gender Place - 139/281
Division Place - 23/31

I have no splits from this day. Part of the suckage of mapmyrun, the splits are hit or miss. Measured long again, 13.64 miles, see previous comment of me and the worst tangent running ever (two days in a row).

After crossing the line, I texted Lisa, and she met me to get a picture.

I have not been pleased with a race in a LONG TIME, but after this one, I was HAPPY. While this one started out slow, I ran significantly negative splits, although I can't say I felt good when I was done. The soreness kicked in IMMEDIATELY and I could barely walk. After I got back to the hotel, I put my medals into the "challenge plate" - can you see why I'm saying I'll be back next year?

Thoughts:

• If I were better trained, I probably would have run the full on day 2.
• Related: best decision EVER to drop to the half.
• Running in the cold/wet is really lame. (Better weather next year, please)
• Best volunteers ever! Even in the cold, they were all smiles. Thank you!
• Libby has the best bling EVER. EVER. I love the challenge plate. I can't wait to see what she comes up with next year.

We were able to get a late checkout, so we had about 90 minutes to shower, pack, and check out. I could barely move, so the extra time was appreciated.

Lunch at Chili's, then we drove back to Austin. I dozed off in the car. Exhausted. I flew out the following morning on a 6:15 am flight that I nearly missed because I didn't expect the security line to be 45 minutes long. I had to run to the gate. That was painful.