I did it! 13.1 Miles

I woke up on Saturday feeling excited and a little nervous. I was more worried about the cold as it was around 28-30 degrees when I woke up. The week prior had been a gorgeous 60 degrees. So I had not trained in colder weather and I was nervous about what I should wear.

I ended up wearing:

• C9 by Champion® Women's Compression Tights from Target
• C9 by Champion® Women's Premium Skort from Target
• My Kudzu Green Sport Tek T-Shirt from work
• Oiselle Running Women's Solid Arm Warmers from Amazon
• My green light weight jacket with the thumb holes
• My Brooks Ghost 6 from my local Running Store Off n' Running
• Armpocket
• Ultimate Direction Access Waist Pack

I thought I'd end up shedding the jacket but it was just too cold and I ended up being very comfortable with it on.

The week before the race I started becoming very nervous about the hills. I had trained on some hills but I was not sure I had done enough. Luckily they ended up not being so bad. I tried to not focus on them and instead would pick runners near me that I wanted to pass. It became a fun game and with every runner I passed the more confident I became and the faster the miles went by.

Greensboro Half Marathon Elevation Map

Race Map

My goal going into the race was to finish in 2 hours 15 minutes. Which would be a pace of  about 10 minutes 18 seconds per mile. Which was very reasonable from my training and gave some extra time for the hills.

I ended up finishing in 2 hours 6 minutes and 43 seconds! I was super proud of that finish. I did have a secret dream of doing it in 2 hours but hey this was my first and you always have to have goals. Plus the hills definitley were a factor. Although I will say I did a pretty good job of keeping a consistent pace even with the hills.

According MapMyRun my race splits were:

Distance	Pace
1 Mile	09:37 min/mi
2 Mile	09:38 min/mi
3 Mile	09:42 min/mi
4 Mile	09:50 min/mi
5 Mile	09:24 min/mi
6 Mile	09:12 min/mi
7 Mile	09:31 min/mi
8 Mile	09:16 min/mi
9 Mile	09:29 min/mi
10 Mile	09:43 min/mi
11 Mile	09:44 min/mi
12 Mile	09:47 min/mi
13 Mile	09:37 min/mi
13.3 Mile	08:20 min/mi

One of my favorite parts of the race was having my family there to cheer me on. My In-laws were visiting and came a day early so they could make the race. That meant a lot to me. My husband and daughter were of course there. I saw them at the start, around mile 6 and at the finish. Most of the pictures were taken by my husband.

I was also surprised at the finish line by my boss and his daughter. I veered over and gave him a high five right before crossing the finish line. It felt awesome to have all the support.

A highlight for me was around mile 7. I was running along when all of a sudden I was passed by the winner of the marathon who was followed by a cop car. For him it was around mile 20. It was so cool seeing him fly by doing twice the distance I was doing. The marathoners started 45 minutes before the half marathoners. He won the race doing the 26.2 miles in 2 hours 30 minutes 30 seconds! It was amazing to watch the elite runners. Eight Marathoners finished in under 3 hours.

The winner of the half marathon finished it in 1 hour 12 minutes.

I have to say it was a pretty perfect experience. All my training paid off as I had no problems completing the distance. I felt great the whole time. I was able to beat my original goal. I had a great cheering team. The weather was cold but ended up being a nice temperature for racing once I got going. The event had a lot of wonderful volunteers. I'm so glad I committed to doing this.

Here were my finial results:
Finish percentile is top 41%
Age group percentile is top 37%

What's next? I'm thinking the Inaugural Rock 'n' Roll Raleigh Half Marathon with a goal of 2 hours :)

Last Long Run

Well I did it. I finished my last long run in training for my first half marathon. It felt great! I set out to do 10 miles and around 5 miles decided to make it 12. I just felt really good and the day was a beautiful crisp fall day. The leaves are finally starting to change in North Carolina so the view was great. There were a lot of other runners on the trail. I ran near two ladies that ran the same distance as me which was cool. I wonder if they are running next weeks race too.

12 miles is the farthest I have ever ran and this was my second time doing it. I've read about a lot of people training to 10 miles and having the last 3 miles on race day be really hard for them. So I definitely wanted to get as close to 13.1 as I could while training. I think more for the mental aspect than the physical.

Yesterday's long run was a confidence booster. I ran around my goal pace and even impressed myself. I think I'm as ready as I will ever be.

After my run I decided to drive the half marathon course. I'm glad that I did because there are some nasty hills on the course and I'm glad to see where they are. I think it would be mentally hard not to know what to expect. Especially since a lot of the hills are in the beginning. I think I'd start to wonder if the whole course is like that. Luckily I drove it and know that it is not.

Last night my husband wanted to drive the course so he could scope out the best places to cheer me on. Which I found very sweet. While we were driving it he told me he was very proud of me and he can't believe how long 13.1 miles is. He joked that he was tired just driving the course, haha. He told me which hills he thought would be hard.

I'm really excited but starting to get nervous. I'm trying not to think of the hills and how they are going to affect my run. I just need to trust my training and go into the race with a positive "can do" attitude.

"I Can and  I WILL!"

Friday Run

I was supposed to run yesterday but life got in the way. So I decided to make it up this morning. Let me tell you when my alarm went off at 6:45am I was not happy (I am NOT a morning person). Yet I told myself I absolutely had to since I did not go yesterday.


I ran 4 miles. I got another personal record at 38:25. It's so fun competing against myself. I like seeing my improvement. Some days I can't believe I signed up for a half marathon. Other days I'm like "Yeah I've GOT This". 

Earned some more badges

Today I had to battle with my sunglasses fogging up from the humidity and the sweat I was putting off. My husband says I should try some stuff he uses for his glasses when he wears them under ski goggles for skiing. So I'm going to try that tonight and let you all know if it works. I was getting very frustrated not being able to see well. Luckily my run was mostly under the shade of trees so I was able to take them off for most of the run.

I'm going to see how I feel tonight but I may go to Zumba. I don't want to overdo it but I LOVE Zumba. So we will see. Plus tomorrow is my rest day so it will be nice to recover.

Well I hope everyone is having a fabulous Friday!

Fabulous Birthday!

I had a wonderful birthday yesterday. I began it by running my 4 miles. It felt pretty good. I can tell I'm getting stronger everyday. My calves were less sore.

It was a nice cool morning. The trail had a couple people walking their dogs on it. It was nice and quiet and I was able to just let my mind wander. I think that is part of the training as well. You can't think about every mile or it will seem to take forever. I'm training myself to just let go and enjoy the journey. It may be the toughest part of the training.

One of my favorite things about running is going back to check my MapMyFitness stats. I love seeing how I have improved. It's also fun earning course badges. I racked up some great badges with yesterday's run.

It's amazing to find what motivates you. I love seeing progress in graphs and badges. It keeps me going. What keeps you going?

The rest of the day was amazing. I felt so loved. One of my coworkers decorated my office with streamers. Another coworker baked me "made from scratch" cupcakes. I used my spa gift certificate from last year which included a mani, 30 minute massage and 30 minute facial.

The massage was wonderful. I had the masseuse focus on my legs. He really worked the tightness out of them and my calves feel amazing today.  I'm thinking after my half I am going to treat myself to a massage. That way when I'm hurting I will just imagine that when I am done I get a massage:)

When I got home the hubby had cleaned the house, made me a birthday dinner and got me flowers. I got to spend the night with my 19 month old and the hubby and it was a perfect end to a perfect day.


So far being 32 rocks!