My training from the end of July until now had been pretty uneventful overall. The hip remained happy. The only real aches/pains I had was actually about 2 weeks before the race when my right shin decided to start acting up - meaning I pretty much stopped running cold turkey out of fear of shin splints.
I had signed up for this race at the 2011 RnR Savannah HM so this was a long, long time coming. Charlie was running his first marathon this weekend too, and that proved to be a good distraction for me, as he needed a few pep talks in the days leading up to the race. It kept the focus off of me and my fears, including the following: (Should I really be running this yet? What if I trip and fall AGAIN? What if this isn't fun and it makes me question running anymore?)
We drove down to Savannah midday on Friday and went straight to the expo. It was a phenomenal expo, probably the best I've ever seen. Lots of great gear, I ended up with a few small items (socks and head bands) and Charlie grabbed a pair of Brooks shorts. Got our bibs and packets and we were good to go. Had a fantastic meal at Boars Head and back to the hotel for an early night.
Got up early the next morning to first work on the GI system: ate my peanut butter & banana bagel and drank about 6 oz of Coke. Then got dressed, did the hair and all that jazz. I think it's hilarious that I spend more time worrying about my racing clothes and how I'm going to fix my hair for a race than I do in any other facet of my life. But I do. This was also the first race I've ever done without wearing a cap. I did several training runs with headbands and really liked them so this was my first race to do so. Also wore a new skirt from Running Skirts:
The hotel was less than a mile from the start line. The weather was perfect, about 50 degrees and clear without any wind. We had a nice leisurely stroll over to the corrals about an hour prior to gun time. By the time we got there, we were ready for 1 last visit to the portapotties and we were set. Race photographers were EVERYWHERE and we got our picture taken several times while waiting around.
Didn't do a warmup like I usually do before a race but this was intentional. I honestly wanted to take the "marathon" mentality of letting my first couple of miles be my warm-up, just to prevent me from doing any more miles that day. My longest training run since being injured was 10 miles so I was still trying to be careful from extra wear & tear.
Charlie and I also had made the deal that we were going to try to stick together. The marathon and half marathon courses didn't split until after mile 11. We realized the last couple of months just how much we love running together and thought this would be extra motivation for us both, and would help keep Charlie in good spirits for the start of his marathon if his nerves were getting to him.
Our other idea was that we would walk through every other water station. Neither of us like getting water/gatorade every mile, and this course offered support about every 1.5 miles. So the every 3 mile-ish idea was perfect. And mentally to know you get a walk break every 3 miles based on each of our training was spot on.
Charlie was assigned corral 15 and I was assigned corral 4 (obviously BEFORE I knew I was going to miss 6 months of running this year). I happily stepped back to corral 15 with him. I did some jumping jacks and jogging in place to get things pumping and felt great. Being RnR, there was some great pre-race music piped in on the speakers and we were totally ready to run.
Right at 8 AM, the first corral took off and they were spaced about 75-120 seconds apart. In the end it was about a 17-minute wait before we hit the start line. I love corral starts that run smoothly!
The sun came up not long before the race started and there was still no wind. It was perfectly cool and sunny. I cannot ask for more perfect weather for a race. It stayed in the lower 50s until I was over halfway done.
The race was fantastic. The course support wasn't as good as last year, but last year was the inaugural so naturally there was a little let down. But it was still great. RnR & Savannah did a really good job at improving the course too. We were in the Historic District a lot longer this year than last which made for a really beautiful course full of large oak trees.
Mile splits:
Mile 1: 10:55
Mile 2: 11:03
Mile 3: 10:55
Mile 4: 11:27 (with the walk break)
Mile 5: 11:05
Mile 6: 11:08
Mile 7: 11:39 (with the walk break)
Mile 8: 11:14
Mile 9: 11:11
So yeah, these were pretty freaking amazing splits. They could not have gone better to tell the truth. I don't even think my HM PR (2:15:08) from last year had splits this good. Too bad it didn't last.
Mile 10: 12:18 (with the walk break) Also really started slowing down here. My right hamstring started whining a little. Not painful yet, but just a little, "Hey, I'm here. I really am. Hi."
Mile 11: 12:01 No walk break here but still going slow. Said bye to Charlie here and honestly that was a bit sad. It was really nice to have him with me. Hamstring fussed a bit more, more along the lines of, "Hey, I'm getting grumpy down here. You better start being nice. Now."
Mile 12: 13:30 (multiple walk breaks) So began the slight up and down (really ever so slight) hill. And then began the uber, uber tightness in the right hamstring. Not the hip, but the hamstring supporting the said previously-injured hip. Where I know I'm still overcompensating and not as strong, blah blah blah. I started getting down on myself here a little, mad at myself for being so damn proud for the first 9 miles when I couldn't keep it up.
Mile 13 + 0.1: 16:12 UGH, I couldn't run to save my life. I'd take a few running steps and that damn hamstring freaking screamed at me, "STOP NOW YOU IDIOT. I'M NOT HAPPY." So then I'd walk. I really wanted a rolling pin to run over it cause I just KNEW that would make it all better. But of course they don't have these along the course. I did the best I could. My race photos from that last mile are pretty pathetic looking. I was getting more and more down on myself because I knew I just had to get up that last little tiny miniscule hill and turn right and I would see the chute, but getting up that last little tiny miniscule hill was proving to be really freaking hard. But alas, I did, and I was able to put together a mini-shuffle of a jog to get across the finish line. And then I wept happy tears and I forgot all about that silly little hamstring.
Yep, I hate getting emotional. I admit it. But I was oh-so-happy at that point. I made eye contact with one of the folks handing out the medals and had probably the sappiest smile on my face when I took it from him. He had no idea what that meant to me. All the sadness, anger, not to mention pain dating back to December 29 when I first tripped and fell, dislocating my hip. He didn't get that. But I didn't care. I was on cloud nine. I just finished my third half marathon, 10 months after the injury, 8 months after surgery, 3 months after being cleared to return to running again.
Final time: 2:34:09. 11:48 pace.
Here's us after we were both done:
After I got my medal, in a daze I grabbed two bottles of water and went and got my finish photo taken. I drank about half a bottle of water (not that I felt thirsty at all, actually). Then I found the chocolate milk (my favorite post-run treat) and the Snickers Marathon bar (yum) and a banana, and I was good to go. I don't think the smile came off my face for a good hour. And the hamstring literally stopped hurting by the time I was completely out of the chute.
In summary, it was a fantastic race. My goals coming into the race were below:
Goal A: Finish below 2:30.
Goal B: Finish faster than NYC (2:36:02).
Goal C: Finish.
Clearly I didn't achieve Goal A. But that was seriously my A goal (reach goal). I told Charlie beforehand I'd be ecstatic but I didn't think it would happen.
And of course, I'm okay with that, because again:
- I have only been back running for 3 months
- I had one run of 10 miles prior to this race since injury
- I only had one week where I was over 20 miles for the week (that one was 22)
But I did get my B goal, which I find hilarious. See above. And I was still faster than my first half marathon!
Three days later, I have absolutely zero soreness or pain. (Did some dancing in the living room with Bella yesterday which included the cupid shuffle, electric slide, and some hula-hooping. Then spent 1.5 hours in the pool today with her. This will be my post-race plan every time, because I feel amazing.)
Boy this was long, but I do get a bit wordy when it comes to running. I don't have any races planned any time soon (my work schedule makes this a bit difficult) but I do have some plans in the next year. I WILL get my sub-2:00 HM one day. So now to keep building my base properly, then start working on speed after that. Hope to make all of the following races in my future:
Oct 2013 Myrtle Beach Mini HM
Jan 2014 Charleston HM
Feb 2014 Disney Princess HM
