Half Marathon #9 for 2013: Heritage Half

Heritage Half Marathon
October 13, 2013
2:14:37

Going into this race, I knew I was undertrained.  I briefly toyed with the idea of using Galloway, but in the end decided to run with my dad for as long as I could.  We agreed to aim for a 10:20-10:30 pace (and I planned to keep him at closer to the 10:30.)  Reality?  We averaged a 9:43 pace for the 8.5 miles I managed to stay with him.

The good:

• This was my dad’s 1st half marathon and he was the fastest male runner over 60 years old (and he wasn’t the only one or the youngest one).
• I managed to stay with him for just over 8.5 miles.
• The logistics were awesome and the swag was nice – women’s fit long sleeve tech shirt! Woot!
• Warm, dry, indoor plumbing bathrooms with no lines.
• The finish line was on a high school track, so a nice flat, fast finish.

The bad:

• Hills.  Have I ever mentioned I always find the hilliest races?  My streak continues.
• Cramps in my foot starting at mile 10.
• Mile 12.  It sucked.  I was soaking wet, cold, cramping (quad and foot), and hungry, but afraid that eating a GU would result in an unplanned pitstop at the bathrooms before I made it to the finish line.

The ugly:

• It started pouring at mile 10 and didn’t stop till we were in the car. There was not a single dry spot anywhere on me at the end.  My skirt was so wet I almost couldn’t get it back up after I went to the bathroom.
• A wicked cramp in my calf that caused me to nearly drive the car into the curb (I had my dad drive after that).
• My hair. OMG. I thought I was going to have to just cut it off, it was so snarled up.

I was pretty torn up at the end (and am having quite the challenge walking today), but it was a good race for me.  I had no idea I was capable of more than one sub 10 mile, much less that I could do 8.5 of them.  Now I need to focus on back to back running.  I can’t be this sore and run another half the next day.

Next up – Richmond Half Marathon in November.  4 more half marathons to go for 13 in 2013!