Our First Half Marathon

I'm happy to report that my sister and I ran our first 1/2 marathon a couple of weeks ago along beautiful Lake Winnipesaukee! I would consider myself more of a casual runner  however, this year I chalked up a few extra running goals for my 2019 goals list, one of which was to run a 1/2 marathon!

Training.

I love the treadmill. We have an old Precor in the basement that has the basics - it's certainly no Woodway or Peloton by any means but the speed and incline work along with the computer so no complaints here.

I signed up for the half in February which is when I really started training. Everything before that were 3 - 4 mile runs (or however long it took me to watch an episode or two of Schitt's Creek). I eventually ran out of episodes to watch and made the switch to Brooklyn 99 which is equally entertaining. My sister put together a training plan for me which consisted of interval runs on Monday, long runs on Saturdays and miscellaneous distances peppered in between. 

It snowed and snowed and snowed February, March and a little bit of April making me less inclined to run outside, not to mention I'm a big baby when it comes to running when it's dark out (which it was up until daylight savings). Hence, why I love my treadmill. My sister and I did a handful of our long runs together which were done on rail trails. I was victim to an icey fall during one of our 10 milers in April when we discovered 4 miles in that the rest of the trail was all one giant sheet of ice. Lesson learned. Turn around right away. 

My pace was around 8:45/mile during treadmill runs and for the rail trail runs my pace was just under 10:00/mile. 

With those times, I honestly had no idea where my pace would land for the half. 

Landon shared with me half way through my training that he had overheard that this course was hilly. My training runs consisted of very little elevation, which in hindsight was obviously a mistake. Maybe that's why I like treadmill running so much! ;) Upon further research online, I read more and more comments that it was hilly. 

The Race.

We ran The Big Lake 1/2 Marathon which starts in Alton, continues on Route 11 for 6 or so miles, winds along Lake Winnipesaukee for 5 miles and then finishes up at Shibley's after another 2 miles on Route 11.

I really enjoyed running on Route 11 (which is a busy road I would probably never run on any other time) thanks to the gorgeous views of the Lake. My brother-in-law cheered us on around mile 5.5 and then went for a quick hike up Mt. Major, which is located right off Route 11/the course. There were rolling hills on Route 11 and I ran up each one counting the number of footsteps in took me to get to the top of each one. I also counted the number of footsteps between all of the cones as another form of distraction. 

Around mile 6, we turned onto a much quieter road that consisted of even more rolling hills. These ones were more challenging for me and I ended up walking up a few of them to help regain my energy and breath. A handful of property owners were out at the end of their driveways cheering all of the runners on, blasting their radios, you name it! They added an extra element of fun which was appreciated! (:

The last 2 or so miles were back on Route 11. They seemed to go relatively quickly in my mind since the end was in sight! The finish line and post race celebration was at Shibley's where we were treated with beer, pizza, ice cream and other shenanigans. 

My Nike+ app clocked me at 2:21:32 with a 10' 34" pace (and 13.40 miles) and the official race time had me at 2:23:12 with a 10:56 pace. 

My goals that I went into this were (1) Finish, (2) Run at least a 10:00/mile pace, (3) Finish under 2 hours, and (4) don't walk.

Happy to report I met 1 goal - finish! haha 

I was able to maintain under a 10' 00" mile up until mile 10 which is where I hit a wall and knew immediately that goals number 2, 3 and 4 weren't going to happen. I was at the point where I was able to walk faster than I was running.  My knees were throbbing which is something I hadn't felt this training cycle. It probably didn't help that I had skipped my last long run (12 miles) and that my longest training run had only been 10 miles.

Nonetheless, despite crazy knees (which I'm sure many runners can empathize with), the last two miles went relatively quickly in my mind regardless to my positive splits. oh well.

There was no better thing than rounding the corner and seeing Griffin and Phoebe at the finish line barking their little cheerful hearts out! Had to stop for a couple seconds to give them some love. 

Post Race.

My sister and I were both very sore immediately following the race. After all, 13.4 miles is the farthest we have ever ran. We had a little post race barbecue back at my house and then both took long recovery naps. I'm glad the race was on a Saturday because I was barely able to walk the following day. 

I had a goal of running a full marathon in November but after this half I don't know if I'm ready. I'm considering signing up for a few more halfs before I dare venture into 26.2 land. I will most certainly have to integrate more trails runs (my least favorite training) and road running training before then as well. 

So happy we both completed it!! One more thing to cross off the 30 x 30 list!

On a different note, my other running goals for 2019 are:

1. Run 12 Races (have done 3 thus far)
2. Run 1000 miles (I'm at 341 miles)
3. Run a 5k under 22:38 (that's my high school PR and I'm hell bound and determined to beat it)
4. Run a Marathon (this one may get moved back to 2020)