Sadly, I was pretty zoned out during the race, didn’t really take in the scenery much. I went out way too fast: an 8 minute per mile pace for the first 7 miles. I ran with or just ahead of the 1:45 pace group, which was a mistake I paid for later. They seemed to speed up at mile 6ish, dropping to about a 7:50 pace in the park. I felt so good the first mile and 2^nd mile but did tell myself, “You need to slow down.” An 8:14 pace felt slow. I ignored my internal good guy and powered forward.

There were some decent hills within the first half of the race. I’m not used to hills! Things did get tough around mile 6 or so (I dropped my water bottle while running through the park and had to trot back and get it; thankfully other runners were cool). At mile 8 it seriously felt like my quads were completely depleted. They lost their strength and it felt like I had no reserves. I had to slow down. It almost felt like I physically couldn’t keep going at that pace. I guess this is what being beyond the lactate threshold feels like. I even had a little bit of that feeling of “I’m gonna get injured if I don’t chill out.” So, I dropped down to an 8:25 pace for mile 8, then about an 8:30ish pace for miles 9 and 10. This felt like a nice break. It seemed like a lot of other runners hit the wall at this time as well. I saw people off to the sides, sitting, stretching, etc. I somehow ended up running just ahead of/next to a guy around mile 9/10 who sounded like he was gonna drop at any moment – his “uuuhhh, uhhhhhhhhh” was a bit demoralizing but again, I couldn’t really get away from him. I focused on running my race and primarily on beating my time from last year – the faster I could be, the better.

At mile 10 I heard someone yell my name – it was Rachel, Chris’s wife. Then I heard Chris yell my name. I smiled and yelled and waved to both of them. It was so cool to see friends from home, 90 miles away. The spectators were awesome. The signs people held up were really cool: one guy around mile 11 held a sign that said, “Run if you think I’m hot.” Haha. I saw Rachel at mile 1 or 2 on the side holding a sign that said, “Smile, you’re paying for this.” A sign at mile 8 read, “Where’s everyone going?” A sign was plastered to a street post around mile 11 that said, “You made it to the start line, you’ll make it to the finish.” Another read, “You’re doing something that others dream of doing.” At mile 10.5ish I heard blaring from the speakers Destiny’s Child’s “Survivor.” “I’m a survivor, I’m not gonna give up, I’m not gonna stop….” That was cool. Surviving a half marathon – it’s real. At mile 12ish a small girl was standing on the sidewalk ringing a cowbell. Like in track meets: the final lap. Yay.

The strangest thing in a half marathon: it’s very unlike a 5k or 10k in that I physically can’t kick (go faster). I can get to maybe an 8:15ish pace but shew, it’s like my muscles rebel. My left knee felt a little bit of that fluid feeling toward the end but overall the knees weren’t bad. Cardio-wise I felt great. The limiting factor was really my quads during this race. I remember that last year it was my glutes more. Thankfully I didn’t get the tingly feeling in my glutes and calves at the end like last year. My toes – the tips – were a big thing too at the end of this half. My toenails, mainly on the 3^rd and 4^th toes, were very sore. The left third toe, which has been taking a beating for the past 3 months, started to develop a nice-sized blister. Despite wearing my silicone toe protectors and toe socks and half size up shoes. Blaaaahh. Again, no blistering or toenail issues with 5ks and 10ks.

It was neat to hear the spectators around mile 12ish/12.5 say, “Just a few more turns and then it’s a downhill slope.” You can’t always believe them. But I’d read up and knew the downhill slope at the end was true. It was pretty cool. The downhill slope was a very welcome gift. Both sides of the street were lined with lots of people watching and cheering. The final portion of the race, for about 0.3 miles, was downhill – a long slope in my opinion. I took it, noticed on my watch that I was just under a 7 minute mile pace at that point. I passed a few people. This wasn’t me running fast, it was gravity. Ha. The slope was kind-of intense, I didn’t want to wipe out. Richard told me that one of the top runners did wipe out on the way down and had to be helped to the finish. Shew.

I ran through the finish – finishing at 1 hour, 47 minutes, and 46 seconds (an 8:14 pace per mile). I beat my time from last year by about 4 ½ minutes (1:52:19 – an 8:34/mi pace). Yay! I finished 866^th out of about 6,800 runners; 235^th out of 4,061 females; 55^th out of 604 in my age group (30-34 y/o). And I felt better at the end of this race compared to last time. I got my medal (a really pretty one), a water, and a banana. Richard and I met up. I went to a tree, spread out my fleece blanket and laid on it with my feet up for just a few minutes. That was great. Then we walked the roughly half mile back to the hotel. It felt great to take off my shoes and then to shower.

Refueling after a race is really important. Food helps repair tissue and can help ease inflammation and soreness. After the race I ate two bananas and an apple, plus a small amount of almond butter and my leftover oats (with a few berries, seeds, and nut butter). Plus I started rehydrating, drinking lots of water. My urine slowly changed from low, yellow output to copious and clear. My food intake for the rest of the day consisted of: lots of leafy greens, some carrots, tomatoes, feta cheese, onions, some leftover chicken alfredo w/ broccoli and whole wheat noodles, some celery, blueberries, cottage cheese, turmeric, a hard boiled egg, walnuts; a tuna melt for dinner – whole wheat bread with some butter and olive oil, cheddar cheese, some onions and diced pickles and celery in the mix, tomato and avocado on the sandwich as well. I indulged a tiny bit with some Santitas tortilla chips at the end – my cheat. I think my body needed the salt, actually. I also had some dark leafy greens in a salad for dinner: red leaf lettuce, baby spinach, etc. Delicious.

I did a little bit of stretching and foam rolling in the afternoon and did some additional walks to avoid stiffness. My dog helped with that – we probably walked 1.5-2 miles or so.

I chilled on the couch with a Dateline episode and went to bed shortly after 8 pm, logging nearly 10 hours of sweet sleep. Waking up the day after a half marathon is an interesting experience. You don’t know how you’re gonna feel till you start moving. It wasn’t terrible. I think eating the right foods yesterday post-race helped. Soreness is always interesting: the body tells a story. My left lateral quad feels a little like it got punched. My right upper hip is a tad sore. Toes are feeling better as long as no pressure is on them. Hip flexors are a little sore but I’m thinking that might actually be more from stretching. Hamstrings feel a minimal soreness – like they were worked but nothing too bad. Defintiely not as bad as last year after my first half marathon. My calves were quite fatigued yesterday after the race but this morning they feel fine.

Running a half marathon seems comparable to labor and childbirth in some ways – from what I hear, that is. I haven’t experienced the latter. I remember my anatomy and physiology teacher in college said if it weren’t for the hormones after childbirth, all women would have only one child. But they forget the pain of labor. So they have more children. I’m signed up to do another half marathon in 7 days. Yesterday afternoon I thought about switching to the 10k or 5k category, though. I don’t think I can go that hard in a half marathon in just 7 days. The main thing is that I don’t want to get injured. It’s so important to listen to your body. But the post-race hormones/dopamine/serotonin surge – whatever you want to call it – is flowing 24 hours later. Either way, I plan to race next weekend. Most likely the 10k. In that race, I can go faster and kick at the end. It takes an hour less in time compared to a half but is just as much fun. With less drawback.

Running is also humbling. I like to compete. In local races I can often place at the top of my age group, within the first 3 female finishers. But on a big stage like Richmond, I have to scroll way down to find my name in the results. Ha. There are many ladies out there much faster than me. But I’m grateful to be in the arena with them.

If you’ve never run a race, I encourage you to give it a try. Train first, though. It’s a great experience and you’ll be surprised by yourself. And by others. ~