Emerald City Half Marathon

 

I feel like you always take a chance when registering for this race. I mean, IT'S IN AUGUST for goodness sake. Fortunately, the two years I've run, the weather has been nice (61 degrees in 2015, 54 degrees at the start this year)!! Both of those years have also been training runs for me.

 

I initially planned to just do my long run workout which was 13-14 miles with the last 6 at marathon pace (likely a 1:51-ish finish time). Marion posted on Facebook that she was looking for someone who might be targeting 1:45-1:50. I figured, what the hell, I don't mind going a bit faster if my body allows. So, I told her I'd run it with her. I'm SO glad I did!

Celebrating our pacing victory! [ME, Marion]

 

The weather was absolutely perfect! Because I wasn't racing it, I just did a measly 1 mile warm up to literally warm my body up. Standing still in mid 50's with a tank and shorts is a little chilly! With our goal pace being 8:10-8:15, we situated ourselves a little behind the 1:45 pace group. No race nerves, no pressure.

 

Of course, we started a little fast. It felt like we were CRAWLING! Mile 1 was [7:59]. Not too fast, but fast enough that we wanted to try to back off a bit. We noticed the next two miles were right on par with the first [7:58, 7:58]. At that point, we sort of decided we would just roll with it as long as we felt good. It just seemed that this was the pace our bodies were going today.

 

The next couple of miles had some incline...almost unnoticeable [7:53, 8:02]. We then entered onto the bike trails at Glacier Ridge. I believe that happened somewhere in the 6th mile [7:55]. Personally, running on bike trails doesn't bother me. I know a lot of people

that HATE it...especially during a race. The path took us through mile 11.

 

We were still going strong the next three miles [7:57, 8:00, 7:57] when Marion thought she might need to use the restroom. She was worried about me stopping, but I didn't care! It was a training run! Plus, it gave me a chance to gel and drink water. I stopped my watch during the break, but Marion kept hers going. That way, we were able to see the two different times. That mile with me stopping my watch was [7:51]...8:40-ish without stopping the watch. Only a 50 second potty break?! You go girl!

I think we passed that girl...

 

With one mile left on the trail (including that damn wooden bridge that I hate to run on), we managed to knock out another sub 8 [7:59]! We were killing it AND feeling good. We were still talking and enjoying the experience. As we were exiting the trail onto the road, I wasn't totally thrilled about this section. It always seems to go on forever. This is also where you meet up with the quarter marathoners so it gets a little congested. It wasn't too bad this year. I recall it being worse two years ago.  That mile stretch took [7:53]. We rounded the corner and headed to the finish. Marion asked me if I wanted to sprint the last section after we hit 13. I told her I would try my best! We did speed up the final mile [7:37] and averaged around 7 or sub 7 for the last little bit.

 

Flying to the finish.

 

 

My official time:

 

1:44:59!

 

Nothing to brag about there. Top 17% overall, top 8% female. Bahaha!!

 

Woo Hoo! Look at that consistency! Even though we ran 10-20 seconds faster than marathon race pace, I was super impressed by how close our splits were. I felt great minus a little tightness developing in the last couple of miles. I definitely know I need to stick to my intended race pace for my marathon in two weeks.

Bling, bling. Medal time.

 

I am SO glad I decided to run this race. It gave me the excitement and confidence boost I needed for Erie. I've been in a bit of a funk lately because I'm tired of waking up early. I didn't feel as if my training was telling me that I could accomplish the time I wanted for the marathon. The confidence was lacking. Running this race gave me that confidence back. I KNOW I can meet my goal. My body is ready for that goal...I just have to do my best on race day to make it happen!

I believe this is a pic of 4 PRs and 2 successful training runs! [Megan, Karen, Kimberly, ME, Dani, Marion]

P.S. Sad I didn't get a pic with Jen and Amanda.

 

It was so good seeing all of my friends at the race. Pre-race complaints with Amanda, last minute pep talks to friends wanting to PR, and post race celebrations. So much fun. Thanks to Marion for keeping me company and keeping me motivated during the race. Finally, thanks to friends and family for cheering us on along the course.