Lehigh Valley Half Marathon, 5/1/11
I will always remember this race. It was my very first half marathon! I was very confident, mentally and physically prepared as well. I did some significant training for this event and I couldn't wait for it to all pay off!!
Matt and I got there about an hour before the start time. We sat on the gym bleachers for awhile and chatted with some friends/runners we see all the time. One person really stood out to me that morning. My assistant swim coach from college. I have always admired him for his strength and determination. I have never met such a crazy athlete. It was great to catch up with him quickly, I haven't seen him since I graduated college!
I was slightly on edge at the start since I registered Matt and I with slower times. We received the blue colored bibs, which was the third group to start. In other words we were in the back. We almost always start near the front. But like Matt said, it's a chip timed event, so your clock doesn't start ticking until you cross the mat. Ok, sure. But I wanted to run with those runners that ran under two hours.
The race starts, it takes about a minute or so for me to get to the start line and then I was off. I was running under an eight minute pace, and running alongside of Matt. For those of you who know, that was too quick of a pace for me to start. I approach mile 3 and I clocked under 25 minutes. Ok- I was feeling good! Mile 4, still on that pace and still feeling good! 10k split- as quick as the only 10k race I've done. Still okay! Then it was into the LV Parkway for miles 7-10.
I swear the second I hit the parkway I started hitting a brick wall. I remember glancing down at my garmin and noticing my pace adding time. But I remember as I approached mile 10 I was still on pace, one hour, twenty-eight minutes. Same as my PR 10 miler. Only after that, it went downhill quick and I'm not talking elevation.
While exiting the parkway runners are at miles 11 and 12. I barely felt like I was running! I remember going through all of the water stops and grabbing water. Rather than drinking the water I dumped it on myself. I looked at my pace, terrible! I remember thinking, if Matt would see me running right now I would get an earful!! But I kept plugging away.
After mile 12 I told myself to just give it whatever I had left in the tank. And I did. Finishing time: 2:01.
I absolutely loved this race. The streets are closed off to traffic but were filled with spectators and bands. There was a lot of energy throughout the course. The course was mostly flat, a few hills but nothing unbearable. I couldn't believe that the hype of running my first half was over so quickly. It was time to move on and prepare for half # 2, 2 weeks later.....
Run for Rich 5k, 5/7/11
I ran this race last year. It's a small race held in Bethlehem. It is organized by the family of a police officer that was from the Bethlehem area. He worked in North Carolina and was killed while on duty. This was the first 5k that Matt and I ran together. This year we didn't register for it because it was in the middle of our two scheduled half marathons. Also, Matt had to work.
That morning came along and I woke up and decided to run it for the heck of it. I set out to use the race as a training run. I did everything that I normally do on race day, except run in my racing flats. I wore my training shoes, heavy and slow. I expected to run a high 24 or low 25.
Mile one came around, I look at my garmin, I'm running under 8. Mile 2 comes, still under 8. At mile 2 I noticed that there were only 2 females in front of me and no other females around me. I was running with all guys! That was exciting. I remember telling myself, you are on pace to run your fastest 5k to date, blitz the last 1.1 mile! Heck, I ran 10 more miles a week earlier, what's 1 mile all out?
That's exactly what I did. I pushed through the finish, 23:37! It didn't even feel like I ran, I felt that good. To add to the excitement of my fastest time, I placed 2nd in my age group, and 3rd female finisher overall.
I can't believe that a year ago this was my first race coming back from a stress fracture. And to date, I have dropped almost 3 minutes in the 5k. I already can't wait to run the next one.
Run for Red Relay Marathon, 5/15/11
Matt and I registered for this race as a team. "Do It! To It!" This race is in my hometown, Stroudsburg. Runners have the option of running a full marathon or the relay, which each person runs a half. Matt started the race and I finished it.
I took Matt to the start and waited for the race to start. After the start I had to make my way to the halfway point. This became quite the disaster. All of the main roads were closed so I ended up making it to mile 15 with little time left to get to the halfway start. Long story short, I changed into my clothes in the car, had no time to stretch, hydrate or warmup. My pre-race routine consisted of a 2 mile sprint to the halfway start and being 12-15 minutes late! Matt had already finished.
As I ran up to the 13.1 mile marker, I saw Matt in the parking lot. I simply yelled his name, waved and took off running back the way I just came. I already knew we were over 10 minutes behind. Our goal was to finish under 4 hours. Little did I know, Matt PR'd his half marathon.
In my frenzied start, I was not able to let my garmin load or turn on my ipod. As I'm running I'm trying to do all of the above. My garmin never loaded. I had no idea what pace I was running. Lucky for me, I had 2 watches on my wrist that morning. I started one at the start so I knew the overall race time. I ended up having to use that cheap watch. I was able to estimate the pace that I was running. The 3:40 pacer ran by me and I was able to keep her in eyesight for majority of my half.
One thing I noticed while running this half, was that it felt alot easier! I appoached mile 8 and still felt good. Mile 10, still strong and I only had a 5k left. I gave it everything I had left. I entered the high school stadium and there stood Matt with the camera pointed my way! He snapped a picture and then ran alongside of me around the track. All he said was "finish strong! I'm going to get a video of you finishing!"
3 hours, fifty minutes. Finished. However, that time is off, considering I started 12-15 minutes later. I believe we would have been in the 3:30-3:40 range, minus the confusion at the halfway point. Another medal added to our medal rack!
What's next?
*Tortoise and Hare 5k, 5/30/11
*Black Bear Triathlon, Sprint Distaince, 6/5/11
This will be my first triathlon! I'm nervous. I have only been biking for a few months. I learned how to change a tire and I know I can do it, just not quickly. We have been to the race site and have rode the race course twice now. There are some legit hills! I know I'll be fine with the swim and run. We will see...
