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Sunday, March 21, 2010

Shamrock Half race recap- as "luck" would have it...

...I accomplished 2 big goals in yesterday's half-marathon (my 3rd half to date)-
  1. I beat my previous PR, which was 2:00:45, by more than 5 minutes! (On a much harder course, by the way.)   AND
  2. I came in under 2 hours!!!  My final time- 1:55:29!
And to think I almost didn't run it at all!  A little background info on me- I have something called Neurally Mediated Hypotension, which basically means that my blood pressure tanks from time to time.  It's not life-threatening but it can definitely put me out of commission, sometimes for a couple weeks. The symptoms are really annoying- heart palpitations, fatigue, dizziness, lightheadedness, basically by blood moves through my body at a snail's pace. Yeah, it sucks.

So, how does this relate to yesterday's race?  I had been having heart palps for the past few nights and was just hoping for them to go away before the race.  I had a crappy run on Thursday and was feeling pretty off.  I spent all day Friday making Firstborn's birthday cake and preparing for his party, not resting like I should have been before a race. No rest. At all. Not ideal but what are you gonna do, right?  Anyhow, I went to bed at about 11:30-ish fully expecting to wake up and feel fine and go race.  I woke up at 2:00 am feeling the palps. Nards!  I went back to sleep and woke up again at 3:30.  Still having palps. Ugh!  I woke hubby up and told him he may have to run the half because I didn't think I'd be up to it. I was nearly in tears. I have never not showed up for a race.  Heart-breaking.  I said a little prayer and asked that I would have more surety of what to do once my alarm went off.  I went back to sleep and woke up to my hubby getting up.  I had about 3 hrs of really good sleep and the palps were gone!  So, I told hubby he couldn't have my bib, I was going to race after all!  (Sorry about the take-back, honey!)  He was happy to let me run.

I got up, got ready and headed out the door feeling blessed that I was still getting to run. I had been a little nervous of running alone (I've done all of my long-distance races with Thai Guy) but I was just happy to be running!  No jitters. No goals that I was stressing over.  I felt good!  Here's a pic Thai Guy took of me before I left. Rocking the shamrock socks and Bondi band. (By the way, I was the only racer to sport Shamrock wear. What's up with that?)


 Not sure why I'm not looking at the camera.
I live only 5 minutes from the race start so I quickly drove over leaving myself only a few minutes of having to stand in the cold before the race started.  It was really cold!  I probably should have worn pants but then no one would see my awesome socks! 

As I was standing waiting for the race to begin, I heard someone call my name and I knew it had to be Whitney, a bloggy friend that was running Shamrock, too. Let me tell you, Whitney is every bit as cool and friendly as she seems in her blog.  It was great meeting her and I'll plug in a pic of us as soon as she posts it on her blog and I can steal it.  (I didn't have my camera with me!)  We chatted for just a minute before the race start, gave each other some last minute encouragement and then we were off!

Miles 1-5
8:40
9:19
9:04
9:07
8:59

I took off at the start of the race and quickly settled into a good pace.  I was pretty much trying to keep up with Blue Jacket Lady.  She seemed to be running a similar pace and was steady so she was my pacer, whether she knew it or not.  There was also this little, bitty, gray-haired guy (about 5 feet tall) in a blue shirt running in front of me.  I was amazed with his quick turnover. Those tiny legs moved fast!  As this wasn't a very big race (98 runners), there wasn't a lot of passing or being passed and I was with Blue Jacket Lady and Tiny Guy the first 5 miles.  A couple hills in there but nothing noteworthy.

Miles 6-10
8:39
8:24
8:57
8:49
8:34

Soon after the 5 mile marker, I passed Tiny Guy going up a slight hill.  He stayed right with me, though. I could see his shadow.  Blue Jacket Lady was still up ahead.  There was a water stop at mile 6. She stopped and walked a minute.  I had my drink with me so I ran on ahead.   Hmmm, now what am I going to do?  Well, not even another 1/2 mile later Tiny Guy passed me again and I figured I'd better try and keep up. :)  It was about this time that I realized that I just might be able to beat 2 hrs in this race and maybe by a pretty good margin.  That definitely put a little pep in my step!  There was one steep hill at about mile 8 that was tough! Definitely the worst of all the hills.  Just after that there was a gravel road for about half a mile. (Seriously! What is up with all the random gravel roads in my recent races?!)  I had to watch my feet but I was still able to keep my pace under a 9 min/mile.

Miles 11-13.1
8:48
8:00
7:58 (.18)


The last 2.1 was all downhill or straightaways which made a negative split pretty much a guarantee.  Don't you love downhills?  My legs love downhills!  Some people hate them and say it hurts their knees but I really love them.  I lean into them and go as fast as I can. Felt so good!  I have to admit, though, that the last 1/2 mile before the final push was pretty hard. I think I had mentally finished the race already so my body felt like it should be done. Make sense?  Anyway, I came around the final bend and saw the race clock. It said 1:55:11 and I thought, "Holy crap! I'm going to finish in 1:55!!!"  I kicked it in for the final push and finished in 1:55:29!!!

I was so thrilled and excited I could hardly contain myself!  Sadly, there was no one waiting at the finish line for me (Thai Guy had to stay home to tend to a sick birthday boy) but Tiny Guy struck up a conversation with me and talked about how I pushed him.  He was a really nice guy.  His daughter was about my age.  She was there supporting him.  I told him it was my first sub 2hr finish and he said that it was a tough course to get a PR on.  Thanks Tiny Guy, I think I'll call you Nice Guy now! Ha ha!

I watched the racers finish and cheered Whitney in. She did awesome, by the way. You'll have to check out her blog to find out just how well.  I chatted with her and her husband for a few more minutes and then came home to get the house clean and ready for Firstborn's birthday party.

This is how I felt the rest of the day.  So happy to have gotten to run in spite of my dumb body, thrilled to have gotten under 2 hrs and stoked to have another half-marathon under my belt. It was a great day!
 
Can't wait to read about all the other races from this weekend!

37 comments:

  1. So excited for you! Congrats on the huge PR! I need to find me a race with a huge downhill at the end. I always need help in those last few miles! Awesome job!

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  2. Oh wow! What a great recap! Congratulations Alicia, I'm so glad that your body did not let you down. You did an AWESOME job. I was grinning from ear to ear as I was reading your post!!! :) YAY!!!!

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  3. Excellent job! That is a huge PR! I don't like downhills once I have run a lot of miles. It is the only time my knees bother me. What was up with no shamrock gear? I wore long sleeves yesterdays so I could wear green in my race! Glad you felt better!

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  4. Great race and PR! Plus a nice strong finish!
    Hope the birthday boy feels better!

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  5. Awesome job!!! Sounds like a tough course, but you did AWESOME! Congrats on feeling great and a new PR!

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  6. Sweet PR, Alicia. Love the socks.

    I would so love to have a 1/2 end with the last few miles down hill, that ROCKS.

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  7. Congrats on the sub 2hr PR!!!! And yes, I love downhills :)

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  8. SOOO glad you ended up feeling okay to race and congrats on the huge PR! Great report!!!

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  9. love that you 'ran' into a fellow bloggy gal..no punn intended;-)
    nice job chica!

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  10. From one runner to another, Great job!!!!!

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  11. Great job!! Congratulations!! Awesome time!

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  12. GREAT SPLITS... Great job! You really rocked.

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  13. FINALLY got my recap up! If you want me to email you the pictures, so that you can have them full-size, just let me know!
    Great job on your time! It was really fun to meet you!

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  14. Congrats on the PR!!! Glad the heart palps didn't last - that would be incredibly frustrating to deal with.

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  15. Great job on your run...and yea for little guy...great to have people pushing you (even if they don't know that they are)
    Hope your little one had a great birthday too!

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  16. great job on the PR...glad U raced it, too!!!

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  17. WAHOOO Alicia, awesome race! Congrats on breaking that 2 hours mark ... no, not breaking it ... SMASHING it!!!!

    It's funny how just knowing that you could have a really great time kicks you in gear to run even faster. You did a great job!

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  18. Love the race report! Congrats on the AWESOME PR!! You rocked that race.

    And happy birthday to your little guy!

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  19. Awesome run! I loved reading your report!

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  20. Sounds like you got about the same amount of sleep as I did before my Half but you did awesome anyways! Great job on pushing yourself at the end. (Puan)

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  21. What a great race!!! You not only got under 2 hours...you killed it! Way to go!

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  22. I am EXCITED for your PR. Sorry I am soooo far behind on commenting.. Hope you are feeling better.

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  23. Hey!
    I was catching up on blogs, and realized i hadn't read any from ya. just saying hi and hope all is well;-)

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  24. YAY for you. AMAZING! And I love who you fund raise for!

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  25. Yay!!! Congrats on busting your PR! Hopefully your luck will rub off on me at the end of the month!

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  26. Congrats on your PB. Nice job on the splits

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  27. Congrats on beating your PR!!!

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  28. Great recap, that was a great race...Nice update!!!

    zbsports

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  29. Congrats on beating your PR!!!

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  30. Great race and PR! Plus a nice strong finish!
    Hope the birthday boy feels better!

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  31. So excited for you! Congrats on the huge PR! I need to find me a race with a huge downhill at the end. I always need help in those last few miles! Awesome job!

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  32. Hi.  I have Neurally Mediated Hypotension as well.  I would love to chat w/ you as I am primarily bed ridden.  I want to go back to work but my doctors have not found a proper treatment.  My name is Kelly.  kell.yob@hotmail.com

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  33. Sad to hear that you are bedridden.  I have been well for the last year.  No real treatment other than lots of rest, water and not too much sugar. Hope you are better soon!

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