I Left it All...and then some...on the Streets of Richmond. American Family Fitness Half Marathon Recap.

This was my "goal race".  I hadn't really planned to run a half-marathon this year, but I was dissappointed that I couldn't run the GW 10-miler in the spring due to a back injury.  When I looked at my fall calendar and cross-referenced between my husband's work schedule, and my travel schedule to see my son at college, this was the race that popped up.  So I jumped in with both feet.

I signed up to train with Potomac River Running's Distance Training Program on Saturdays from the Reston Store.  Unfortunately (and I knew this going in), I only made it to about half of the sessions.  But PRTraining gives you the entire plan on paper (well, in a PDF in an email) so I was able to run on my own on the weeks I missed the group due to my travel schedule or volunteer commitments. I managed to get those runs in this time!  The training plan was great, and I followed it more closely than the other times I've run with the DTP. One disadvantage to the training plan was that it was geared to earlier races, so the long runs became shorter earlier than necessary for my race.  I tried to adjust, but it was too tempting to "slack" and follow the plan for the earlier race.

Two weeks before the race, I had a back spasm.  I just moved funny and boom - could barely stand up.  Fortunately it only lasted a couple of days, and my Running Buddies (the infamous Run To Coffee ladies) were great about just walking with me instead of running.  But I used it as an "extreme taper" - getting less mileage in than I should the last few weeks before a race.  I knew I didn't want to push it.  And that little voice in my head repeated what Coach Caitlyn (of PRR's Cherry Blossom training group a few years back) said "its better to undertrain than to overtrain".

So following the "extreme taper" I was feeling pretty good this week - my legs wanted to run and I felt strong.  I felt my food and hydration were right - and I was hoping for a PR.  Sadly, that didn't happen.

You may have seen the weather for this weekend was COLD.  It was a balmy 26 at the start.  Which meant that I stood outside for an hour in 26 degree weather before running.  The trash bag was warm, but not warm enough.  I had hotties for my hands, but I left them at the hotel. (Note to self: ALWAYS zip all pockets closed before you leave!)  I threw some winter tights in the suitcase at the last minute, and I am SO GLAD I had them!  I had to buy a hat at the expo.

So on to the fun! Of course I was assigned to the Last Wave - in this case, Wave K.  It was five blocks back from the start, and the people were all friendly, if a bit frosted about the weather.  I used my strategy of jumping back out of the corral to use the bathroom at the start.  I was surprised with the long lines at the Porta-potties, but realized they were all full marathoners who hadn't started yet.  However, I made it through the line and back to the start corral well before Wave K crossed the start line.

 So when I got close to the start, I ditched my trash bag coverup. I finally got across the start line, then started running.  I knew Frank was out there on his bike somewhere near the start looking for me.  He found me here:

That was around mile one.  Mile 2 brought this beautiful sign:

Then at the first turn, I found Frank with Susie Austin, a dear friend who lives just off the Half-Marathon route (and on the Marathon Route):

My pace was blistering for the first two miles - I was well ahead of my 14:30-15:00 planned pace, and I was trying to slow down.   Frank and his bike kept showing up throughout the race.  I had some really good miles until I hit about mile 8.  That's when I felt a blister starting on my right foot, I felt tired, my hips hurt and I was feeling the heat in the sun, and the cold wind in the shadows.  About mile 10.5 I dropped my middle layer, but I never felt I had the layering right.

Here are a few photos from Frank:

You can see I have lost most of the crowd.  I like that about the back of the pack.  There is room to run.  Mile 9 was extremely hard.  In fact I tweeted at Mile 10 - Why?  Why am I doing this? 

But once I crossed the Mile 10 marker, I thought "OK, only 5K to go.  I can do this."  By that time the course had joined up with the marathon course so very fast runners were passing me.. and their cheering sections were out there giving me "pity cheers" as well.   Mile 10 also offered one of the more entertaining cheering sections:

And hubby thought this run/walker was especially stylin' in this handmade hat and scarf:

So now I've made it to mile 11, thinking I am almost there and may just make it, but feeling tired and achy.  Who shows up on the sidelines but Chip Hulbert, my first running coach ever, and coaching at Lifetime Fitness now.  He gives me some words of encouragement, a quick hug and sends me off to finish.  

The finish at Richmond is something everyone talks about.  I can't tell you how many times I said "Richmond Half-Marathon" and someone said "downhill finish" in response.  (Kind of like on Easter, we have a call-and-response at church - "He is Risen"  "He is Risen, indeed".  It feels like that to me...."Richmond" "Downhill Finish".)  My Tuesday coach, Joe, cautioned me to be careful about going too fast on the downhill.  Chip cautioned me about going too fast on the downhill right before I started into it. But just like the first mile, from mile 12.5 on, I threw caution to the wind!  I went as fast as I could on the downhill (and my Run To Coffee group will tell you I am really fast downhill!)  When I checked my Nike watch later in the day, that last half-mile was in the 10 minute pace.  I left it all out there! 

So my official time was 3:37:28.  Overall #8337 of 8452 finishers (10,500 "competitors" according to the race website)  In my age group #504 of 511.  So I finished.  Not last.

Afterwards I was completely exhausted.  I got my medal, my hat and my blanket, and headed over to bag pickup where I had a recovery drink waiting in my bag.  I was starving and I think I drank it too fast.  Frank met me and sat with me a few minutes, then decided to ride his bike back to the car and meet me at the start shuttle.  I headed to the pickup point for the shuttles, but had to sit down halfway.  I finally got to the shuttle pickup area and got sick.  Puked all over the streets of Richmond.  I decided to go to the medical tent to get checked out.  They were great, took my vitals and my temperature was 96. Hypothermic, maybe?  Blood pressure was fine.  I just felt weak and dizzy.  I hung out in the medical tent for about  1/2 hour and tried again to get to hubby.  This time I made it.  Back to the hotel for a hot bath and some food.  

We had dinner with the Austins that night, and although I couldn't eat much, I was grateful for the hospitality.  I was literally too sore to sit at the table, When we got home to the hotel, I told Frank, "Don't ever let me sign up for 13.1 again. Just tell me no if I even think about it."  He asked me this morning, "Well, are you thinking about it?"  Yes.