Friday, March 20, 2015

New Half PR! Tobacco Road Half Marathon

I had heard great things about the Tobacco Road Marathon. I signed up for the half marathon before it sold out. I wanted to prove to myself that I could run another sub 2 hour half marathon. This sounded like the perfect course to do it on. They promote it as  "Flat, Fast, and Fun". I would not call it flat, but it was a pretty fast course with some great downhill sections.

I was excited to be running it with one of best racing buddies, Brittany. I was a little nervous as we had not run together as much lately, so I was not sure how fast her race pace would be. So I was a little worried I would not be able to keep up. I knew it did not really matter because we both are each others cheerleaders, and we highly encourage the other to do their best. -- Running friends are the best!

My day started at an ungodly hour of 3 am.  I got up and got ready to leave at 3:40 am so I could get to the hotel Brittany and her boyfriend, Jason were staying at in Cary for 5 am. I had purchased parking for the race but they said you needed to be there by 5:30 am to guarantee a parking spot. We just chilled in the car for an hour keeping warm before the race. The race started at 7 am. Having to get their so early was my only real big complaint, but it is a very popular race so I guess I just have to suck it up. I know people who had to get up at 2 am for Disney races.

Going into the race I was not sure what my plan was. I really wanted to race it. I am currently training for a 25k (RunnerDude's 25k) for April 4th. I kept thinking that I would race this half and then see how I felt for the 25k as far as actually racing it.

My training runs have been going really well. I have seen a good increase in my speed. So I felt pretty good going into the race. I wasn't really nervous. My plan was just to go by effort and go from there.

The start was very congested. Brittany and I had already talked about starting out slower and not trying to weave in and out of the crowd. Typically you end up just wearing yourself out before you even truly get started. Our first mile was 9:27. We had planned to run near the 2 hour pacer but the crowd was pretty big around them and after the first mile they took off like bats out of hell. I think they were making up for the first mile but it was a little crazy how fast they were going. A group of us were complaining / talking about it.

Eventually we caught back up with the 2 hour pacer and passed them. They finally seemed to be back on track. At that point we were clocking all our miles in under 9 minutes. My secret goal was to try to keep every mile under 9. We only had 3 over 9 minutes and the slowest mile was the first mile.

Most of the course runs on the American Tobacco Trail in Cary, NC. It is a really nice shaded wooded trail, that is mostly compact dirt. It had rained the day before, so I though it felt nice and spongy. Only a few parts were muddy. Also, I like out and back courses. I like knowing what to expect on the way back. Plus I love watching people run by, it makes the time fly by. I'm a people watcher.

Typically when I run with Brittany, we talk the whole time. During this race we barley spoke. We were working hard ;)

When we hit the turnaround point,we had seen the 1:50 pacer pass not too far ahead of us. Then saw the 2 hour pacer behind us. At that point I knew we were near a 1:55 finish. I tried not to get too excited since I knew we had a pretty long gradual hill coming that had the potential to slow us up.

I had a Blueberry Huma Chia Energy Gel around mile 8. Brittany and I had ran 14 miles the weekend before with a 30 minute fast finish. I had not taken in any nutrition during the run, and remembered that I wish I had during those last 30 minutes struggling with my energy level. -- I was having a hard time trying to eat it on the go, going up the gradual incline, and my nose was stuffy so I was having a hard time breathing. I kept laughing to myself, thinking how ridiculous I must look to the people coming the opposite direction. I also wondered if any photographers caught me with gel dribbling out the corner of my mouth, hehe. But I got it done, and it really helped me with the last half.

Toward the end of the race the loudest breather I have ever heard was just behind me to my left. He was driving me crazy. Sometimes just hearing other people struggle can make you tired. Finally he passed us and I was so thankful. He had headphones on, probably so he didn't have to hear himself.

Crossing the finish line together
As we got to the last 5k mark, we started picking local landmarks to compare how far we had left. Brittany would say "we have from the studio to Battleground parking lot". Then "CVS to the studio". It really helped get through those last miles. The best is when we could start to hear the crowd, then you turn the corner and there is the ginormous American flag hanging above the finish. Brittany and I crossed the finish line at 1:55:04. I even got to ring the PR bell. It was all very exciting.

Later we found out Brittany won first place for females in the military for the half. She won $350!

Overall it was an awesome race. I got to PR and do it with one of my best running friends. We are now talking about doing the full next year.

I highly recommend this race. It is a beautiful course.


Here are the stats:


Next up: RunnerDude's 25K!!!