Raleigh Rock ’n’ Roll 1/2

The big day finally came for the Inaugural Raleigh Rock ’n’ Roll 1/2 (4/13/2014). I had been training since the beginning of January with RunnerDude's Fitness. This was to be my second half marathon race and I wanted to do it in under 2 hours.

I loved training with a group and a coach this time around. It pushed me to do more speed work, which to my surprise I enjoyed. I also really loved meeting and getting to know other runners. Non-runners will only listen to you talk about running for so long before they glaze over.

As the race approached I started getting nervous about the elevation profile. Raleigh is a very hilly city. The Greensboro Half Marathon that I had done last year was also very hilly and I had been told this course would be about the same. I am going to state here that Raleigh was WAY worse! The hills just kept coming and they were not all rolling hills like I had been told, haha. The elevation gain for the half course was about 595 ft!

Elevation Profile from my Strava readout after the race

I had to get up super early to make sure to get parked and to meet up for a group picture before heading to my designated corral. We had stayed with friends in Raleigh, which worked out really well. I was lucky to have no issues getting into the city and parked.

RunnerDude's RNR Training Group 2014

Our  RunnerDude's Fitness training group met at 6 am for our group picture. Unfortunately our coach got stuck in traffic and did not make the picture.

I was assigned to run in corral 10. I had kept playing with the idea of running with the 2 hour pacer to help keep me on track. One of my fellow runners was also in corral 10. She told me she knows the 2 hour pacer and that she is really good. So she introduced me to Amanda and I moved up to corral 8 to run with her pacing group.

I loved running with the pacing group. It was really fun listening to their stories and feeding off their energy. We also ran with the marathon 4 hour pacers while they still ran the half course before branching off to do the marathon course. I was able to stay with the group until around mile 10.

The course was not bad at first. It had some rolling hills that were fine. Then from about mile 10 to the finish it was just one hill after another. I had done so well pacing to a 2 hour finish until then. The hills just started winning. It was sad to watch the pacing group getting farther and farther ahead but I made peace with it and knew at this point I had to just pace myself to finish the race. I still had a small hope that I would catch back up and somehow still manage at least a 2 hour finish.

The last 3 miles were the most epic miles I have ever ran. I was getting so tired and kept thinking after this hill we gotta be going downhill for a bit. But every corner we turned we met another massive hill. At one point I just wanted to cry but focused on all the months I had trained so hard for this. I passed runners that had started walking and were crying. The course hills were starting to break people. It was really heart breaking.

I just kept chipping away at the miles. I was getting slower and slower. Then an awesome thing happened. I noticed one of my sole sisters running ahead of me. I went over and said hi. We barley talked because at that point I was lucky to still even be running. But just seeing a familiar face helped keep me going.

A very sad moment was seeing the 2 hour mark rollover on my Garmin. My new goal was to beat my last half marathon finish of 2:06:44 to set a new race PR.

The last mile was the longest mile I have ever ran. I felt like everyone was passing me but I just did not have enough in me to go any faster. I finally reached the finish-line and my official time was 2:04:00. Wohoo! Still a PR! Not the sub 2 hour I was looking for, but damn I had done it. No regrets!

Here are my splits for the race:

I was on pace until mile 11.

As you can see by my GAP (Grade Adjusted Pace) it was a hilly one. -- According to Strava, Grade Adjusted Pace estimates an equivalent pace when running on flat land, allowing the runner to compare hilly and flat runs more easily. Because running uphill requires extra effort, the Grade Adjusted Pace will be faster than the actual pace run. When running downhill, the Grade Adjusted Pace will be slower than the actual pace.

I had some personal bests on this race according to Strava:

My best half marathon time was during training with a break at the halfway point.
So this really was my fastest Half Marathon run.

I learned that I am tougher than I ever knew. I'm so glad I had ran with the pacing group as I believe it really helped me make a better time than what I probably would have done on my own. I am so glad that I trained with Thad and  RunnerDude's Fitness. I met so many incredibly nice people that I hope to remain friends with and run with again.

In closing, I'm so glad I did the Inaugural Raleigh Rock ’n’ Roll 1/2. I don't think I will ever do it again as Raleigh hills can kiss it! Haha... I definitely plan to train with RunnerDude's Fitness again. My heart is filled with pride for my journey and for those that I trained with.

I know I will get that sub 2 hour. It's just a matter of time. I have 4 more tries this year!

Half Marathon #2 in the books!