Day 77

PR!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! (personal record)

This morning was the Rochester Half Marathon. I flew out of bed when my alarm went off at 6am and was relieved to see the sky looked clear (they'd been forecasting rain all week long). Alyssa, Sarah, and Jon came over before the race so that we could all walk to the start together. Between us four runners, we went through an entire roll of toilet paper! Gotta love those pre-race nerves. ;-)

Pre-race: Staying Warm

Alyssa, Babs, and Sarah

Lined up at the start

Sarah and Andy were out of sight as soon as the race started, but Alyssa and I stuck together almost the entire time. I feel so spoiled to always have running company! The air was crisp, the sun was shining (it was actually kind of blinding) - it was perfect running weather.

Sarah's parents cheered us on around mile 4, and Marcia was a road marshall near mile 6. Anticipating seeing them made the first half of the race fly by. And thanks to them, we got some great action shots!

Sarah in cheetah mode!

Check out Andy's hot calf sleeves aka "man-gerie"

I promise we are waving and not doing "jazz hands"

The Logistics: I probably ran the smartest race I've ever run before. I drank at every water stop (except the first one) and used my handheld water bottle in between. My water lasted me until the end of the race, but I would have needed a refill if I had gone any further. I took a gel (chocolate w/caffeine) at mile 5, and another (same flavor) at mile 9.5. In the past I've only had one packet of sports beans during a half, but I was so nervous about getting dizzy that I decided it was better to be safe than sorry. I felt great the entire time, so I think it was a good idea. I was really mindful of not starting out too fast, but I also wanted to have a good run, so I tried to keep my pace just under 10 minutes. My first 10 miles ranged between a 9:45 and 9:55 pace. I honestly felt perfectly fine... my legs, knees, ankles, hips, back... everything felt "normal" so I pushed it for the final 3 miles. Here was my last 5k: Mile 11 = 9:38. Mile 12 = 9:23. Mile 13 = 9:08. Final 0.1 = 7:25. I couldn't have asked for a better run. As I was getting closer to the finish, I realized I was going to beat 2 hours and 10 minutes (my super secret goal). I was psyched!

Personal Record!

According to the race peeps, my 13.1 official chip time was 2:07:30!! I still can't believe it. Alyssa sped up with about .75 miles to go and finished in 2:07:06 - she was amazing! Andy floored me. I knew he would do well - I'm so stinking proud of how great he's been through all of this training and I knew it would pay off for him. Even with a bathroom stop he finished in 2:00:21. Incredible. And Sarah - our resident cheetah - killed it again with a 1:46:03 finish. If it weren't for an evil cramp right at the end, she would have really killed it. I am so so so proud of all of us. We all did an amazing job!!

My mom requested that I take more creative race photos this year... so here are your fun post-race pics Mom!

Running Gangsta - ok really I'm just trying to cover up my boob sweat

We're fighting, in case you can't tell

And now for a few little interesting tid bits from the race. Some of the best spectator signs were: "Chafe Now, Beer Later" - "Don't Stop! Don't Stop! (that's what she said)" - "Chuck Norris Never Ran a Marathon" - "Worse Parade Ever" - and of course there were lots of inspiring ones that made me smile and feel energized but sadly didn't stick in my head as well as the funny ones did. I also saw a woman running towards the end with brown smears all over her butt crack and inner thighs. Just think about that for a bit... I got high fives from some little kids (better than pushing them over, which we all know has happened before). And Alyssa and I had fun making up different silly things to do for every camera man we passed. It was a blast!

After the race, Andy, Sarah, and I blessed Jines (a local place with good breakfast) with our stinky (I mean... really stinky) sweaty presence.

Pancakes = Breakfast of RUNNING CHAMPIONS!!!

I was a pretty happy girl. :-) I didn't do a whole lot the rest of the day... bought a book, and now I'm watching the Emmy's. Listening to all of these acceptance speeches, I'll give my own quicky before hitting the hay.

I'd like to thank Runner's World for creating my Marathon Training Program that helped me run my best half to date. Also to Brooks Ravenna 3 shoes and my Balega socks, for letting me run 13.1 miles blister free. I'd like to thank Andy for convincing me to run every time I didn't want to, and for embracing the sport himself, making it even that much more fun since we get to share it together. To my parents, who must be so so so tired of hearing me talk about running way too much and for still acting interested every time I bring up the subject. To my running support team: Alyssa, Sarah, Katie, and Anna. And of course to Carrie for convincing me to sign up for this crazy thing called a half marathon once upon a time. Who else who else... well, I've got an entire marathon to run still, so I'll save the rest of the thank you's for the end of October. Only 5 weeks left...... AHHH!!!!!!!

Total Miles Run: 255.55
Total Weight Change: -4.3