My Continuing Quest of the Sub-2 Half Marathon

I started writing this race recap last month, but got writer's block. Then we bought a place and that kept me pretty busy.

November had me like:



And then December had me like:



But now we're settling in and I'm ready to get down to business. Are you ready?

Back in August I decided I wanted to sign up for a fall half marathon for no good reason other than, why not?

At first I was going to do the Rock n Roll half for Halloween. However, once October rolled around and they still hadn't been able to finalize the course, I gave up on them. Instead I found a small, local race that was perfect. It was:

1. On the same day as the Rock n Roll so my training wouldn't need to be altered

2.  Walkable from my place, rather than an hour long train ride

3.  A fraction of the cost of the RnR

The morning of the race, TriGuy walked down to the start with me and I shared some of my misgivings:

He was right.

I read the Hanson Method for Half Marathons and adapted it into my very own plan with help from Erika. I called it:

I ran 6 days per week, with 3 easy runs, 2 technical runs, and 1 long run. So yes:

I also worked to perfect my nutrition. When my trusty water and sport beans combo left me still feeling worn out, Erika suggested I add in some protein. I tried peanut butter and cracker sandwiches.

You try eating while gasping for air breathing hard.

I decided to break my crackers in half and devised my perfect plan, alternating half a cracker with 2 sport beans every 1.5 miles. I was hitting my target times and feeling really good about my training.

So I should have felt more than ready.

Getting back to race day:

When we got to the starting line it was raining.

Par for the course in Seattle but fairly unusual for LA.

In fact, the race organizer said a lot of people decided to stay home because of the weather.

There were only 30 of us, so our "pack" was pretty small and I quickly found myself a half-step back from one particular guy. I wasn't sure what to do; I wanted to stay on my mile pace but it was pretty awkward to run that close to a stranger.

Of course I didn't want to slow down either. I eventually went with speeding up a bit, which didn't really please the guy, but that wasn't my problem. He could catch me later if he wanted to.

Spoiler: he did not catch me.

The course consisted of 3 loops. We shared it with the 5k and 10k runners, and I was never sure who I was racing against.  Any time I saw a familiar face heading in the opposite direction I assumed that person was ahead of me. I knew I was hitting my splits but assumed those runners were faster because of my experience with racing.

Halfway through the race it was time for me to refill my water bottle.

I should have asked for help but I was trying to rush.

At that moment I realized I had forgotten to switch off my watch's auto-pause. This might not seem like a big deal but I had a goal to hit.

I wouldn't know my finish time for sure until the official results came out.

By the time I got to the last turnaround I was very concerned that I would not hit my goal. I kept checking my pace plan, which I had written on my hand, and suddenly realized I only had TWO miles left, not three.

That meant it was time to pick up the pace.

I'm not gonna lie; it was TOUGH to keep running so fast the whole race, and for the last 2.1 miles I was trying to run as fast as I could without burning out. I kept telling myself how disappointed I'd be if I missed that sub 2 by a few seconds just because it was hard.

I also remembered what Erika wrote on my pace recommendations:

I pushed to the finish and a handful of people were there to congratulate me.

My watch showed that I finished under 2 hours but I wouldn't be sure until the results came out. In the meantime, they gave me 2 medals, a finisher's medal and a 2nd place medal!

To say I was psyched is an understatement, especially when you compare this race to all my other half marathons.

ChelanMan Half 2010 2:32:36 = 11:39 min/mi

Seattle Half 2010 2:26:17 = 11:10 min/mi

Rock n Roll 2011 2:20:42 = 10:44 min/mi

Rock n Roll 2012 2:13:18 = 10:11 min/mi

Heroes Half 2013 2:04:17 = 9:29 min/mi

Heroes Half 2014 2:13:25 = 10:11 min/mi

Seattle half 2015 2:17:39 = 10:30 min/mi

And the official results from this race:

It was a sub-2!!

Monster Dash Half 2016 1:58:10 = 9:01 min/mi

In order to finally reach my goal, a few things happened:

1. I left my stressful job and have been essentially on hiatus this year. This gave me lots of energy.

2. I moved somewhere that is much flatter than Seattle, and my race was pancake flat.

But if that's what it took, so be it.

I'm not sure if I'll run another half in the new year, but Erika and I got into the Chicago Marathon in October!

UPCOMING POSTS: MY NEW TEAM AMBASSADORSHIP, SWIMMING (REALLY, I'M GOING TO START AGAIN), AND MARATHON TRAINING

The 2015 Seattle Half Marathon: chilly and hilly.

After my triathlon in July I kind of didn't exercise for a bit a few months. So in order to get back into it I signed up for the Seattle Half Marathon.

Well, maybe not ever, but not my best plan. Because in the fall it gets dark here before afternoon tea, I had to do the majority of my training on my treadmill.

I'm not really a fan.

But, I slogged through as best I could and soon enough it was race day.

I was grateful that there was no rain or snow this year, since that is never a guarantee. Nevertheless, it was just above freezing first thing in the morning and you know me: I show up prepared.

My training didn't go quite as planned (when does it ever?), so I decided to play it safe and go with a 4:1 run/walk interval, like I'd used so much in my training. My hopes of getting a sub 2 this year were long gone and I wanted to make sure I didn't hate the run. Plus, my longest training run had been 8 miles.

I wasn't expecting much. I had:

I was hoping to beat my course PR from 2010 of 2:26:17, which was only my second ever half marathon. I also really wanted to come in under 2:20:00.

I started the race somewhere in the back half of the pack and stuck to my plan...pretty much. I knew there would probably be times that would require more walking since there were a few hills.

Along the way, there were some encouraging spectators.

It felt good to be up the big hill. Until I started the next one.

As I recall possibly incorrectly the course was completely uphill. Especially the hill that started around mile 7 and must have lasted at least 5 miles. All that went through my head was the following:

You could actually see it winding up and up ahead of you FOREVER.

It did finally end as we plummeted down over the freeway toward the water, which was super fun after all that climbing.

And then I ran into another helpful spectator about 1.5 miles from the end.

Are you freaking KIDDING ME????

Who designs these courses?? (Also, those poor full marathoners!)

I pushed up that final hill, passed TriGuy for a quick wave and burst of energy, and crossed the finish with a time of 2:17:39. It wasn't a distance PR by any stretch, but it was a course PR by 8 minutes and 38 seconds!

After the race, we grabbed our car and TriGuy's cousin and headed home.  While I "rested" they made Thanksgiving Dinner!

Lucky me!

It was a successful race for me but I don't think I'll be running it again. And not just because of the hills and the cold, but because...

So if you live in the area, LET ME KNOW!

You can email me, tweet me, message me, whatever. I've never lived in California but I'm looking forward to some sunshine!

Oh, and maybe some warmer race starts!

Seriously though, hit me up if you know some good places to run, race, drink coffee, etc...

The Heroes Half: Could there BE any more wind??

On the last Sunday in April, I ran the Heroes Half.  Last year I ran it with Erika and got a PR of 2:04.  I felt like this was the race that I could sub 2:00 this year.

Well, as you know if you've been reading lately (when I actually post), my training lately has been less than stellar.   However, since I had paid the entry fee, I decided to suck it up and run the race, focusing on the "joy" of racing and "forgetting about" the PR.

TriGuy came along to spectate, and once we got to the race venue I  stopped at the bathroom.

Tangent:  Why is it that no matter how many times I go before I leave the house, as soon as I see that starting line my bladder is suddenly full again??

I finally got through the line in the bathroom and when I came out TriGuy informed me that the race had already started.

See?

I nearly missed the starting mats because uh, because the uh, the starting area wasn't very well marked. Yeah, that's what it was.

Or maybe I just wasn't paying attention.  Moving on.

This race is a fundraiser to support the military through the USO.  Amongst the runners, walkers, dogs, strollers, and children (there really were children doing the half!) were also soldiers,

and lots of people wearing superhero shirts and costumes.

I was wearing my new TEAM TOUGH CHIK shirt!

Unfortunately, I did not feel tough.  My hip was really bothering me.

It hurt for the first 6 miles.  

I left my fuel belt at home, which meant I had to drink from the paper cups on the course while running.

It didn't work out so well.

I had put together my playlist so that once I got close to the turnaround I would have an extra musical boost. I may or may not have been singing and dancing a little when Ke$ha and Pitbull came on.

I'm pretty sure I was not actually singing out loud, which was probably even weirder.

On the return half of the run, I felt like I was not seeing many people, meaning the majority of people were ahead of me.  Despite my plan to let go of my PR hopes, I was still stubborn motivated to try for it.  I had my Garmin set to show my average pace, and knew that if I got it to 9:09 per mile I would cross the finish in 1:59:59.  I was edging the seconds off of my 10:45 pace, though the wind picked up, especially on the uphills.

I mean, there was a SERIOUS head wind.

For SIX AND A HALF miles.

When I looked at my watch and realized I would have to run the last 3 miles in 16 minutes, I knew it was time to let go of the PR dream.  Still, at the end, I decided to just give it all I had.  Through the beautifully scenic last mile:

I became focused on running as fast and smoothly as possible. I put my game face on.

And then promptly broke out of it to take a "good" picture when I saw the race photographer.

I seriously need a jazz-hands intervention.  

Once I got past the last turn, I immediately got back down to business, and ran past TriGuy and across the finish line.

After trying to convince TriGuy that I did not, in fact, need a piggyback ride to the car, I limped to the sidewalk and stretched while waiting for him to drive over to me.  

I finished the 2014 Heroes Half Marathon in 2:13:25 , a far cry from my 2:04 finish last year, and an even farther cry from the ever-elusive sub 2:00.

For now, I can be happy that:

A) I finished, even with a wonky hip
2)  I beat the average pace by 5 minutes (there were lots of walkers), and
C) I placed 29/66 in my age group

And at least it didn't rain...

Oh, look what I just did there:

Stay tuned.

UPCOMING POSTS: YOGA, SOMETHING MAYBE TO DO WITH RAIN, VISITING A RUNNING GURU

No One Said There Would be Math in this Race: The Heroes Half Marathon Race Recap

A few months ago I started training for a half marathon.  I signed up for the Heroes Half, a race that honours and donates to the military.  I was planning to run it on my own, but Erika offered to join me.  Run a race with a friend, who also happens to be an Ironman??

My training was going really well; I was actually hitting a lot of the times in my speed work and was feeling good about things.  That is, until the week before the race, when I rolled my ankle by landing only partially on the sidewalk during a training run.

I decided to rest from running until the race after running twice more that week.

The day before the half I convinced TriGuy to come with me to packet pickup, so we could spend some quality time together.

We got there and the place was empty...because we were 3 hours early.  Because why would packet pickup be at a normal time? why would it be easily findable on the website? I didn't hunt for the time more carefully.

We decided to go have lunch, then went home and I went back later on my own.

The day of, I was pretty pumped.  I had slept amazingly well, woke up ready to go and completely ignored the fact that my foot felt worse.  Surely it was just nerves.

For this race, Erika asked me if I wanted to sub 2:00 (run it in under 2 hours).  We agreed to go out and just see how it went, considering my foot and my training times.

For the record, running with Erika was awesome.  She, like Ann Marie, was happy to talk the entire time to take my mind off the endless miles.

The race started up a hill and over a series of bridges.  We saw a number of people returning from the 10k, but then we started to see half marathoners coming back!  The first guy we saw was running with a child in a stroller!!  No kidding!

He WON the race and got himself in the Guinness Book of World Records!

We trotted on, into the water treatment plant and started the return portion.  Just after the 9 mile marker we saw the 10k turnaround, so I said:

 However, a half marathon is 13 miles.  

Math:  it's not really my strength.

We eventually realized there must be an extra loop somewhere before the finish for the half marathon.  And sure enough, there was.  As we got to the 10 mile marker, I said:

 
Erika said that if we kept under a 9:30 pace we could potentially sub 2.  I might have gotten cocky at that point.

That's when all of a sudden my body said "What was that you were saying?  Hahahahahaha!"  And then I couldn't breathe very well so I had to slow down.

By then the heavens had opened up.

We got soaked.

We were into the last interminable couple of miles that looped around the marina and through the parking lot, when a gentleman called out to us.  He asked if we could pace him, as he had nothing left in the tank.  We age groupers are all about the community and not the competition so we happily said yes.

As we got to the last mile, Erika had a plan.

We followed Erika's advice that it would hurt now, but it was ok because it would be over soon.  I sprinted as much as I could and then saw TriGuy waving and taking pictures!

This time I did not stop.

Erika slowed up a bit in order to cheer me through the finish.  I took a moment to catch my breath,

then got my medal.  Erika and I congratulated the man who ran with us, took a few more pictures with TriGuy, and then we headed home.  (Incidentally, while we were driving home the sun came out.)

I sat with my computer and stalked the results site until the times were up.  I was pretty stoked to find out I ran 2:04:17.  A fabulous new PR!  By NINE WHOLE MINUTES!!

So now I think I'm ready to start training for a full marathon.

Maybe.



This weekend I'm linking up on Yeah Write's Moonshine Grid.  Come join us!

UPCOMING POSTS:  RUNNING, SWIMMING, BIKING, AND CLASSES WITH GYMSIS