Two years ago (September 2010) I ran my very first half marathon with Andy and Carrie. Carrie and I trained diligently all summer long, doing every single training run together no matter what. The first two weeks or so were awful. I remember laying face down on the bed in misery because I didn't want to run - thankfully Andy has always been encouraging and he convinced me to go do it. I remember I didn't sleep a wink before my first long run (5 miles) because I'd never gone that far in my life and was convinced I wouldn't make it. I remember being pretty much terrified of hurting myself about two weeks before the race. And then during the race, I remember feeling strong. My training paid off - it was one of the best experiences of my life.
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| Rochester Half Marathon 2010 - 2:15:18 |
Just about one month later, Carrie and I drove to Albany to do another half marathon with Emily. But this wasn't any half marathon - it was the Hairy Gorilla Half Marathon - a TRAIL half marathon on Halloween. Clearly I was still pretty new to running, and didn't realize that there is a big difference between a road race and a trail race. Carrie and I kept training, did a few ten mile long runs, and did two trail runs before the half (during both of which I felt like my heart was going to explode out of my chest).
What do I remember from the Hairy Gorilla? Being cold and having to ditch my gloves because they got covered in stickers from a bush that I had to grab onto to help me up a hill. I remember stopping to have my picture taken with a volunteer in a banana costume and stopping to eat halloween candy at the water stops. I remember running over fallen leaves that hid rocks, tree roots, holes in the ground, etc, and then falling into a bush because I stepped into one of those holes. I remember Carrie falling 4 times and waiting with her after her final fall for the golf cart to pick her up. I remember running the last two miles with Emily without music because I gave Carrie my iPhone when she was being carted away so that she could call us and find us at the end. And mostly I remember thinking it would never end. Ever. Of course it did, and then I remember the best breakfast Emily's mom made for us - including apple cider donuts. I earned those.
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| Hairy Gorilla Half Marathon 2010 - 3:05:27 |
It wasn't until March of 2011 that I was ready to go through this all again, so I began training for the Lake Placid Half Marathon. Training for this race was so fun because we had a huge group running it: Myself, Andy, Anna, Alyssa, Jay, and Emily. Alyssa and I did a lot of training together, and stuck to the training program almost perfectly until the end when I got really really sick. I felt pretty confident for the race, but I was nervous because I still felt sick. It showed.... I remember feeling sluggish, tired, then I started getting dizzy, it felt like their was a cloud surrounding my brain... if Alyssa hadn't stuck by my side during those last few miles, I don't know if I would have made it. I also remember it being freakishly hilly, especially towards the end. Mile 12 was downright cruel. I also remember Andy jumping in (he had finished long ago) and running the final part of the race with me - it was very sweet, but I think he was worried I was going to die because I was wheezing so hard, haha. Even though it wasn't my best half by far, renting a house with everyone was a blast!
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| Lake Placid Half Marathon 2011 - 2:30:14 |
It took me a bit to get over my dizzy spells, so I didn't make any plans to train or run a half anytime soon. A week before the Rochester Half Marathon I found out an evil coworker of mine was doing it. I went home and told Andy - and we decided we'd do it. No training. I think we did one 6 mile run together the next day, and that was it. We showed up to the start line, not even really nervous because hey, if it went poorly, it's not like we trained for it, so who cared? If we had to walk, we had to walk. No biggie. Well... we ran the entire thing side by side, and didn't do half bad. :-) I remember thinking, "just take it nice and easy," and I also dedicated each mile to a different person, so while I ran that mile, I though about them. It helped the time pass. And yes - I beat the evil coworker by a solid 20 minutes. Ha!
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| Rochester Half Marathon 2011 - 2:23:51 |
And last but not least, this spring Sarah signed up for the Flower City Half, so I immediately recruited Andy, Alyssa, Anna, and Bipul to train with me again. I stuck to the program really well... I got faster... training with friends was so much fun... I lost some weight... and then the race came. I felt so good, I was overly confident and ended up running too fast. My first 9 miles were amazing. And then I got hit with a case of the dizzies - worse than ever before. My vision was foggy, my brain was foggy, I couldn't focus on my music, I was convinced I would fall over the bridge and into the river. For the first time ever... I walked during a race. Here's the kicker - it was my fastest time ever (barely), so I know I should be proud, but it didn't feel like a race to be proud of. I mean, I'm certainly proud that I finished, because there was a point where I thought I couldn't. So I am proud. I just don't feel proud of that experience being my PR.
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| Flower City Half Marathon 2012 - 2:14:34 |
This Sunday I'll be running the Rochester Half for the third time. Having done it twice, this course feels like an old friend, and I'm so excited to run it again. I'm also excited to have a change in pace for my weekend long runs during marathon training. Andy, Alyssa, and Sarah are all doing it too, and I just know it will be a fun-filled weekend! When I'm training for a half marathon, I usually taper for two weeks prior to the race, but since I'm in the middle of marathon training I didn't have that luxury. I'm curious to see how I'll do. I'm not going to totally take it easy, but I also am in no rush to kill myself during it because I have a lot of running to do still. Only a few more days away!
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