On Sunday, I did the Skagit Flats Half Marathon! Last year, this race was my very first half
marathon, which I decided to do on a whim about 5 days beforehand. Last year, I was really just starting my
whole running journey, and I know I have come really far since then. So, I was really excited to run it again and
kind of compare!
On the one hand, I know I am a much better runner now, and know a lot
more about how I feel and how/when to push myself, as well as have a lot more
confidence in myself (if I can run a marathon, I don’t need to be so worried
about a half). That being said, I also knew
I was putting pressure on myself, because I knew that I “should” be faster, but
I also knew I ran pretty well last year anyway, so who knows.
The day started out early, that’s for sure. 4:45am, or something like that. This year, though, I am getting up at 5am to
swim three times a week, so it really wasn’t quite as terrible (except this was
a weekend! Grr)… Drove up with Mac,
Katie and Megan, tried to wake up, etc etc etc… I was really not feeling
it. I just did not feel like running—mentally
or physically. Nevertheless, I got ready
and laced up. Mac was shooting for a
1:45 (or less), so I figured I’d run with her... last year, we finished in
1:46:20 (which was my 13.1 PR), so a 1:45 goal would beat that. It also meant a sub-7min/mile average but…ehh,
if there’s one thing I’ve learned this year, it’s that I can easily push to go
faster when I’m actually racing, and that just because training feels one way,
an actual race is always different.
After standing in line for the porta-potty one last time, I gave up
(just a few people to go!) because they were about to start. At that point, I was more nervous about the race
starting than anything else, so I crossed my fingers that everything would be
ok (it was).
And suddenly, we were off! As
always, it was crowded and we got swept up for a bit. After a mile or so, it
kinda normalized and people found their paces.
After a couple miles, as we also settled into a pace, we were hitting
7:40-7:50, which was perfect. The sun
was coming out and I was worried it would get super-hot out, but luckily, the
real heat held off. At around mile 5,
Mac and I agreed we were going a comfy pace and that so far, so good!
The second we turned around and head back for the second half, we were
reminded that there was a headwind.
Funny, I didn’t feel a tailwind on the way out! Oh well.
We were still hitting 7:50, creeping up to 8, but it wasn’t quite as
easy. No worries though; again, we both
agreed that it felt good, and there was certainly plenty left in the tank to
push it later. No point it using up that
energy now.
Hitting the mile 10 mark is always nice. Somehow, being in the double digits sounds a
whole lot closer. Plus, now it’s only 3.1
to go! I can do anything for 5k,
right? We kept at it, and my legs were
certainly starting to feel a lot heavier than before, but nothing too bad or
unusual. We saw friends on course (the
best part of an out-and back like that is seeing so many people! Kind of a good distraction), and had lots of
people (mostly spectators) comment on our neon outfits :). Right after mile 11, I could feel side ache
coming on, just a minor irritation and I was hoping it wouldn’t turn into
anything more. As I turned to joke
about it to Mac, she suddenly stopped abruptly, with HER ab hurting (but
obviously a lot more). We stopped a few
seconds. We walked a little. We cautiously started running a bit. We stopped again. I think she said something about me going on
but there’s no way I was going to leave her behind now; we were so close, kinda
pointless and I knew she would be able to start running again soon enough.
The next time we started running, we stayed running. A little easier, but really not a huge deal
at this point. Thanks to our strong pace
at the beginning, we were well on track, and even with the stopping, we finished
in exactly 1:45:00! Awesome. So we would have finished about a minute or
so faster without that, but definitely not complaining. The most important part was being able to
jump back into it after that setback, and finish, AND we both still got PRs out
of the deal! It’s always so much more
fun to run and finish with a friend, and this time was no different. There’s just something different about going
through the whole race together and sharing it :)
We hung out and lay out on the grass by the finish line (comfiest spot
ever), and finally met up with Katie, and then Megan. Turns out Megan also had some serious
cramping issues, but she got through it like a champ. We waited and watched Francis finish too,
since he was doing the full marathon…he finished his very first marathon in 3
hours and a couple seconds. Insane!
All in all, it was a great morning of running. I wasn’t very excited about it, but it turned
out great, and once I got moving, I was totally into it—a good lesson for next
time. Plus, running with friends is
always better!
Now I’m trying to find the balance between taking it easy, and being
ready for the next couple weeks: Black
Diamond Olympic this Sunday, and Kirkland Sprint the following Sunday. Oh boy.
Need to sleep!
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