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Friday, April 25, 2014

Gearing up for the Half!

My T-shirt and Bib for the Half!
I got my last run before the half marathon done last night. It was a gorgeous day out, so we packed up the munchkin and headed up to the Cobbs Hill reservoir. The Hubbs is still working on getting back into running shape, but insisted on pushing the Jogging stroller for part of the laps we did together.


We started out too quickly, and about half a lap in, Hubbs noticed his foot was starting to bother him. I pointed out that we were booking, and perhaps easing off the pace a bit might help. After that we settled into a comfortable pace for a few laps. There were a couple of pit stops where first I and then He had to stop to retie a shoe. I've never had that many untied shoe laces in a run, it was weird. After 2 laps I handed the stroller off to my Husband and he dropped back to a walk.

I slowed for a bit to get my music running on my phone and then settled into a comfortable pace. Part of this run was for me to feel out what I should be pacing myself at on Sunday. I had the idea that I was
going to try to hang with the 12 min/mile pace group for as long as possible. After a full mile at a comfortable pace my phone chirped out that I had hit a 12:20 min/mile pace. This felt like a pace I could hold for a long, long time.

I spent the rest of my run just kind of feeling myself out. Letting my legs relax into the run, and doing constant mental checks on my status. I was feeling good enough that when my phone chirped out the four mile mark, I decided to see how I felt at five. I wanted to know if I could continue this pace (around 12'30") and still feel good.

And then a great song came on my phone, and I let my legs go. I wasn't all out sprinting, but I really was pushing my pace. I could feel it, just a little, in my lungs, but it felt so good to just be flying around the loop to that music.

When I hit five miles, I briefly considered continuing my run, but decided it would be a better bet to save my legs for Sunday. That right there tells you how good that run felt. I really needed a good solid run too. I've been feeling really insecure about my running lately, and have been super worried about the Half. After last nights run, I'm confident I can finish the Half, which really is my only goal.

Looking back over my splits I was surprised to see that I did that last mile under 12 minutes. It has me at a 11'54" pace for that last mile. I'm pretty happy about that. The only real hills in the Half this weekend come between miles 6-8, so I think pushing my pace like that around mile five was a good way to simulate having to push up those hills late in the race. My training runs have had a similar hill at the end of them, so I'm used to slogging up a hill on tired legs.

I know they say you're supposed to have three goals in a race, the dream goal, the "it'd be nice goal" and the realistic goal,  but really, the only thing on my mind is finishing the race. If I had to pick other goals, I guess the only other goal would be to come in with an average pace as close to 12'20" as I can manage, but that's my dream goal really. I just want to finish this race, and maybe not feel like I'm dying when I do.

If you can't tell I'm starting to get really nervous about this race. I feel under trained and I'm worried about how I'll do on race day. Last night's run helped a lot of that though. Two more days and I'll know for sure.

1 comment:

  1. So glad you got a good run in before your race. That always helps. Knowing you had more in you but stopping to rest was a good call and I bet it felt pretty bad ass!

    GOOD LUCK on your half. Not that you need it but just in case. I would seriously recommend finding a pacer (if your race provides them). Let him or her know it's your first half and your nervous about finishing and they will get you over that finish line! It helps to have other people around you who run at the same pace. You'll have HOURS to get to know each other!

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