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!
Thats so great you were able to run with your dad, congrats to both of you! 🙂 Super jealous of the long sleeve tech shirts, more races really need to do those!
Bummer about hills, and foot and rain etc…but you pushed through and got #9 in for the year!
Between triathlons, rainy runs, and humid runs I have had my share of birdsnest hair dos— Aussie makes a 3 minute miracle conditioner which works WONDERS! My friend Hollie (Fueledbylolz) told me about it after a tri when I literally thought I was going to have to chop my hair off).
I have yet to run a race in rain! Kudos to you for staying with your dad! What fun memories!
Check out my blog!
http://hoopernebraska.blogspot.com
Congratulations to your Dad on his first half marathon! You’re not the only one who gets crazy hair sometimes after a race.