Worcester Half Marathon

Today was the Worcester Half Marathon and my first half Marathon ever. 14 weeks of training and now it was time to test out Mr. Hal Higdon's training guide. My friend Michele and I spent the night in Worcester last night and our friend Gail was meeting us this morning. It rained all day yesterday and all night last night and when we woke up this morning it was foggy, breezy and drizzly. While I do love the sun, it seemed like this would be good weather to run in. We were got up at 6:15 and slowly got going. I ate my toast with almond butter and Nutella, drank some water and waited for Gail to arrive. Gail finally arrived and we walked over to the race start arriving at 7:45 for the 8 am start. The gun went off and we started. Michelle runs faster than Gail and me so she went ahead. Gail and I took our time starting out, but when we realized our pace was 9:30 we knew we needed to pick it up a bit and that we did.
Mile 1 8:58
Mile 2 8:33
Mile 3 8:31
Mile 4 8:57
Mile 5 8:30
Mile 6 8:37
Mile 7 8:16
Mile 8 8:28
Mile 9 8:29
Mile 10 8:45
Mile 11 8:30
Mile 12 8:09
Mile 13 8:06
Mile .19 1:27

Our final time 1:52:20. My goal was to finish under 2 hours and that we did. I was so excited!

Now a little bit about the route. The hill at mile 3 was horrible. It went straight up and then turned and then went up again and then turned and went up again. There were many rolling hills and between mile 9 1/2 and 10 1/2 there was another hill that just went kind of forever. The last mile was so flat that it seemed as though it would never end.

Tons of water stops, tons of port o potties and the Worcester Police were out in full force to keep the course safe. All in all I would say it was a great race and I look forward to doing it again next year.

Training Complete...now the Waiting

Today is the first of my two rest days before our race on Sunday. I am definitely feeling nervous. My husband told me last night that I had done the hard part and now just had to focus on the fun part, "the race!" Why don't I feel that way? I have had a great time training. I have two awesome running partners, I have watched myself run further and faster than I ever have and I have felt no pressure during training runs. I set a goal to finish under 2 hours for this half and am now feeling like I may have set myself up for failure. What if I don't finish under 2? Will it take away from the fact that I just finished my first half marathon? I hope not, but unfortunately I know my personality. We are leaving at 2 pm tomorrow to go to the Expo, pick up our numbers and drive the course. Part of me doesn't want to drive the course, what is the expression, "Ignorance is Bliss." Maybe I want to feel ignorant and just take it as it comes...who knew that a race could cause so many emotions? I guess the best thing to do is to do start drinking water, take a deep breath and enjoy the ride. My friend Karin told me that the race is my dessert after a great 3 months of training, I think that I will choose to look at it that way. A hot fudge sundae after a great meal.

Running Skirt Blues

Last night I decided to run with my outfit for the Worcester Half this weekend. I didn't want to have any blunders when getting dressed on Sunday morning. I had a new green skirt from runningskirts.com and finally found the just right yellow top to match. I grabbed the skirt out of my closet and pulled it on..."oh sh%$!" I said out loud but to myself. My husband looked over, "I think that my running skirt is to big and it has the long compression pants inside." Well....I decided not to let that stop me and took off for my run. I am on my taper week so I decided to do my 4 1/2 mile route and work on some speed. I took off up the hill and then realized the skirt was falling down. I tried to pretend that it wasn't, but it was. I then had to roll it twice. I was trying to look at the bright side (that is my new mantra) that at least it was to big and not to tight, but that wasn't helping. I then kept thinking the rest of the way, "what am I going to wear?" "i love this skirt..." and "oh great, i just bought this new top today to go with the skirt and I am supposed to be on a budget." (more about that at a later post:) I made it home in 37 minutes and I started to feel good. While my first mile was 9:03 my third was 7:59 and my last one was 8:00. Can I run that pace for 13.1 miles? I highly doubt it, but if I can do that for a few miles then I am hoping to meet my under 2 hour goal. I think I can, I think I can, I think I can....Now as far as the outfit goes, I have another skirt that I love, that I can wear my new yellow top with and all will be well. I hope.....

To Whom it May Concern....

To whom it may concern,

I am a runner in our quaint, small town in New Hampshire. I follow the "runner" rules of the road. I run facing traffic, I stop at crosswalks and give the right of way to cars at stoplights. All in all I think that I am a pretty courteous runner. So why do you in cars have to be so rude sometimes? To the two large women who told me to get my "skinny a&&" off of the road this morning, I have thought about it and I am going to take it as a complement. I have never been told that I have a skinny a&& before. The woman in the gray Prius, you know who you are since you work at our elementary school, did you really have to gun your engine, swerve around 3 women (one with a baby stroller) and then flip us off in front of the Church. Really, have you no shame? And finally to the young boys with your "hot rod" license plate, I don't really need you to blow kisses at me and whistle. First of all I could probably be your mother and second, I know that I don't look good when it is 85 degrees out and have just finished running 12 miles, please don't flatter me. I guess what I am trying to say is can't we just all get along, share the road and maybe keep our comments to ourselves? Believe me you do not want to know what I am thinking in my head!

Thanks for your time,

Rene'

Crazy Thursday Morning

I don't like Thursdays and for some reason I am really not loving this Thursday morning. I forgot to run the dishwasher last night, I ran out of lunch Ziploc bags, Ben has been practicing his recital songs all morning and I am freaking out about what to eat for breakfast since my last 12 mile run before my race taper begins is at noon today. Should I have my usual yogurt and Kashi cereal now and then a good snack around 1030? Should I make myself a quick omelette and then have yogurt at 10:30. Aaaarrrggghhhh......decisions, decisions. I am not nervous to run 12 today, we ran 12 on Friday and I was fine after. I think that once again race nerves are setting in. I need to just step back and enjoy the ride. Now....if only I didn't hate Thursdays.....

Running Stuff.....

I love "stuff." When I start a new hobby I have to have everything that there is to offer. When I wanted to scrapbook, I could have put Creative Memories out of business. Knitting....you guessed it I owned every yarn, pattern or knitting needle known to man. Now it is running. I will preface this by saying that I always have run off and on. I love to get new running shoes, new watches and new sports bras etc....but this time it is different. When I purchased my new Garmin 310XT, I broke it down to my husband like it was a goal setting apparatus. He was skeptical at first, he was the one that bought the sewing machine when I was going to sew, but now he agrees it was a great purchase. When I return home from my runs, he looks at the elevations, heart rate, miles just as greedily as I do. He will give me compliments or make a comment that he didn't know that route was that long. My garmin pushes me to do better every day and to strive for big goals. My shoe charm however, it is just pretty but, let's be honest there has to pretty a long with practical. Happy National Running Day.

Less than 2 Weeks Away

My first half marathon is less than two weeks away and I am nervous. I should not be nervous. I have trained, tried out different flavors of Hammer Gel and of course have picked out the perfect race day outfit. So why with two weeks to go am I so nervous? I have no intention of winning, I just want to finish. Well....I don't just want to finish, I want to finish in under 2 hours. I think that I can do it. My 12 mile run was done in 1:51 and that was not race day mode. I am hoping that I did not set my goals to high and that if I don't reach my goal that I will not be to disappointed. I mean really what is there to be disappointed about, finishing a half marathon is no small feat.