I wasn't supposed to run a half marathon this Saturday. My youngest sister recently decided to get married on the day our middle sister was running this half. DD and I were going to run the 5K and then cheer on sister #2 but she hurt her foot and it wasn't going to be a big deal race anymore. She decided she didn't want cowbell and DD decided she didn't want to run. So I switched to the half.
I've been training for a short, hilly relay with friends and 13 was prescribed for the weekend so it was perfect. I decided to aim for a negative split race and try to close better at the end. In my last race I ran out of steam a half mile before the finish. My sister and I lined up with the 2:00 pacer and I figured I'd stick with them for a bit and see how I felt, then speed up later if I could.
I've been a member of Oiselle's volee for ~3 years and I was wearing a team singlet (over a long sleeve shirt). Another volee member ran up next to me around the start of mile 2 and introduced herself. We ran together for the next few miles. She had run (and paced) this race a number of times and gave me an idea of the topography. I enjoyed the conversation and the miles clicked by. And most importantly they didn't click by faster than either of us wanted: she had a more important race in a few weeks and I was happy to run 9's. I didn't need all of the water stops though, so lost her right around mile 6 and just a little before the one bigish hill.
The hill was right around halfway and I passed dozens more people on the way up by holding a good pace and then charging the top of the hill. Once I was at the top I took inventory, knew I felt good and picked up the pace a little. I passed all kinds of bands, an offer of donuts (nope), the mile 9 Guiness stop and lots of cute kids. It all kept me going. Now I was running 8:30, 8:15, 8:10. With 5k to go it started to feel a little tougher to hold the pace but I did my best. Kicked it in to finish the last mile in exactly 8 minutes and finish the race in 1:54:39. Pretty good for a training run and I felt fine the next day.
The rest of the day was a whirlwind of wedding prep, events and a late bedtime so it was pretty nice to start off the day in such an enjoyable way. I kind of want to go back next year and run this race again. I really liked it.
Sounds like a good run, with negative splits and a fast finish. Congrats!
Nice busy day. You must of slept well after.
Ran the D.C. full last year. Liked the course. Almost totally different than the Marine Corp Marathon route.
It was so very different. I liked MCM too but I don't know that I want to run a race that big ever again.
Great job!
Whoohoo!!!
Nice strong training run!
Sounds perfect!
:obh:
Great job, Dev!
Excellent race considering it was not a goal race, just a "workout ". Nicely done.
Very nice "training run." :D
Thanks everyone