Celebration Half Marathon Recap: A PR!

On Sunday, I ran the inaugural Celebration Half Marathon. I think at one point months ago I contemplated running the full, but then I snapped back to reality and told my marathon brain to shutup. I am so glad I did not run the full. I heard many great things about the race from full marathoners - well organized, lots of support, more spectators than expected, etc. but I could not imagine doing two loops on that course.

Craig and I had a carpool date with Victoria and so in the wee hours of the morning we snuck over to her casa and she chauffeured us on down to Celebration. We were concerned about parking but literally found tons of open spaces about a quarter mile from the start. Score.

I was bragging about the fact that I took two Immodium (one the night before and one the morning of) so that I did NOT have to defile the port a potties. There is something about a race (even a teeny tiny 5k) that makes my stomach go haywire. I tried this method for Disney and it worked like a charm. Well, I guess my stomach is stronger than I think (not sure if this is good or bad) because it said, "Screw you, Immodium," and I ended up cutting about a hundred people in line to abuse that port a potty. I guess I am upgrading to three Immodium. I do not know if I should be proud or ashamed about this.

Even though I used the port a potty a total of THREE times, when we lined up at the race start I had to pee again. I contemplated how many people would notice me squatting in the bushes before the race, and then just told myself that if worst came to worst I could just pee on myself while running and everyone would think it was sweat. Yes, these were real thoughts. Sorry, Victoria for thinking about peeing on myself and then riding home on your leather seats. In all seriousness though, if it meant a PR, I would probably do it. No shame over here.


But, I digress...the race started after a national anthem that was sung by a woman and not the man advertised. Victoria and I started with the 3:40 marathon pacer (8:24/mile pace). Let me tell you, this man was booking it. My first mile was 8:20. He was a good ten seconds ahead of me. I wanted him to be my rabbit and eventually pass him, but he was going way too fast so I decided to play it safe. I honestly was not thinking about PR'ing because I was two weeks out from my last marathon and had not run much, or very hard since. This was a race to see where I was at, speed wise.

Victoria stuck with the pacer and I watched her short self pass me and thought, "Dammit man." I wanted to run faster at that point, but I kept telling myself to run my own race. Run MY pace, not anyone else's.

I settled into a running groove that scared the crap out of me. I was running miles in the 8:00-8:20 range and that is rare for a half mary. My half marathon pace is 8:43 (and that's my PR) - usually I run about an 8:40 pace the first ten miles, then hit the wall and shuffle to the finish around 8:50-9:00/mile paces for the last 5k. Seeing miles clocking in at 8:15 scared me because I felt like I just might fall over and die by mile 10 if I kept that up. Surprisingly, I did not. I had a steady pace for miles 2-10. I felt good. I felt like I was maintaining a comfortably hard pace. I wasn't dying, but it wasn't easy either. I hit the 10k around 51:00 and I was still going strong. My splits miles 1-9 were: 8:20, 8:13, 8:15, 8:18, 8:09, 8:04, 8:07, 8:17, 8:18.

I hit the 15k around 1:17. A new 15k PR. I've never run one under 1:19. This was an 8:16/mile pace. I was thinking at this point that I was the biggest badass in the world, and wtf was going on. So unreal. I felt good  though...until the dreaded mile 11, my archnemesis. This is where I usually slow down, and I did slow down but not by nearly as much as normal. Miles 11,12, and 13 were: 8:34, 8:46, 8:39. The last .22 was a 7:58 pace.

This is good news for my running. I'm starting to hit the wall at the same point, but it is having less impact on my speed. I realized I had a chance of a 1:50 half marathon around mile 11.5 and I picked up the pace a little bit more. I still had something in me. I wasn't letting this race go.

At mile 13, I saw the finish. I will add that mile 13 on my Garmin came earlier than mile 13 on the course, but I expected that. My official Garmin distance was 13.22. Not terrible, but I have run the tangents better for sure. I could have had a sub 1:50 time if I had actually run a 13.1. I was giving it my all at this point (which was a 7:58 pace...my all needs to get faster) and I knew this was a big PR. I crossed the finish line and was so freaking proud of myself. Official time: 1:50:28. A 4 minute PR. This really was a Celebration half marathon (hehehe, I had to).

It doesn't happen if you don't take a picture of your Garmin.

I met Katy earlier that morning and she finished right after me with a PR! So awesome. I finally also got to meet Michelle and even got to stalk her baby Evan when her family was at the finish. (He is as cute as his Instagram pics). Michelle PR'd too which is amazing! It was PR city. We snapped a cute pic and got to chat for a bit after the race.

Lovely ladies (photo cred: Victoria)

My runnin' buddy. 

What is even cooler than PR'ing is that I WON MY AGE GROUP! As in, first place. Never happened in a half marathon before. Yay yay yay!

(Source)

Thoughts on the race:

This course was fast and flat. I loved it. Half the time I wondered where the heck I was at, and where I might be going (lots of neighborhood loops and running through preserve boardwalks) but it still was a good course. I got to see a lot of identical white houses with picket fences that I could never keep clean. The support was EXCELLENT. Water at almost every single mile and they were also handing out Cliff bar gels, which I ended up taking. I would run this again in a heartbeat. Honestly, for a first race I was expecting a lot worse, so I was pleasantly surprised. And for $40 I got a great race, a good tech tee (V neck!) and a nice medal. Definitely a must do if you are in the area. I can't speak for the full, but I did hear good things.

Fueling:

My fueling plan was different for this half than any other, and I think it played a big role in my PR. I ate two pieces of Cinnamon raisin bread before the start and drank a lot of Nuun. I took a salt stick at mile 4, a Powerbar gel at mile 5, another gel at mile 7, a salt stick at mile 10 along with my last gel. I actually wish I had taken another gel around 12, because I think it could have boosted my last two mile splits. Eating this much for a race is something I have never done (I used to do halfs eating NOTHING and only drinking water and Gatorade before the race). I definitely think that fueling more has done wonders for my speed. Last February, I ran my PR half time - and it was a 2:03:47. My PR for this race was 1:50:28. That's 13 minutes in one year. I have worked my butt off to get to this point, but I know I can take even more time off my half.


What does this mean for my running? I am not sure. It kind of scared me to be running the paces I did, but it excited me more. It means that my tempos need to be much faster. My mile repeats should be sub-8. My track intervals need to be faster. Which they will be - I am not going to underestimate myself. I am going to push hard this spring training season and see what I can do. My goal (a lofty one, but still my goal) is a 1:45 half marathon. Will it be hard? Hell yes. That is an 8:00/pace. I have to take 25 seconds off per mile to achieve that goal. Is it doable? Hell yes. I just took 20 seconds off per mile during this half marathon from my previous PR - and I took that much time off in exactly a month.

My goal race is the Swamphouse Half Marathon on March 2. If I make my goal, awesome. If not, I have many more months to work on it in 2014.

And whether I ever PR again or not, I will continue to eat this after every half marathon:

I love you, BurgerFi.

What are your race goals for 2014? 


Have you noticed an improvement in your running because of fueling changes?

Greetings, 2014

I happen to be a very goal-oriented person. I love challenging myself and I love rewarding myself for accomplishing things I would not have done, say five years ago when I was binge-eating cheeseburgers and dying my hair black (yes, those things used to happen).

That picture was taken during a cheeseburger eating challenge in 2009. To warm up for it, I ate a quarter pounder from McDonalds. No lie. 

That being said, I get so annoyed when there is a huge influx of people posting on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, etc. about EVERYTHING they are going to accomplish this year and how, "2013 was hard, but I am so happy that it was hard because I learned a lot about myself." They talk about all the things they are planning on changing on January 1 and how THIS year is going to be THE year of greatness. Maybe I am cynical or cranky, (or both) but I believe that if you want to make changes you should start NOW. Why wait until January 1?

That being said, I made some goals in December and have been trying to stick with them for about a month now. How's it going? Pretty good. There are days when I don't succeed, but I am trying to not focus on the one day that I didn't succeed, but on the other 29 days out of the month that I DID succeed. And I think that makes all the difference! It's perspective, people.

That being said, here are my goals for 2014 that I started implementing in 2013. Note: they are not extremely specific. I have running related goals, but these are my personal goals. I wanted these goals to be able to be applied toward my ENTIRE life, every single aspect of it.

1. I think that loving myself is so important, and something that I struggle with. Sometimes I feel ugly. Or fat. Or stupid. And I need to stop giving in to those negative feelings and remember that I am awesome!

2. Positivity is not my strong suit. I am a glass half empty kinda gal. But after doing some reading and pondering, I have come to respect the power of thoughts. If I am constantly negative, how can I expect good things?

3. I like to snack. End of story. I snack way too much.

4. I have been a lot more aware of what I am giving my body for nourishment and I want to continue that in 2014 and take it a step further. I would like to focus on eating lots of whole foods and eating clean.

5. A lot of times I compare myself to other people or look at what I DON'T have. Which is crazy, because I am SO blessed! I want to try and be thankful every day for all the things I have been given.

6. I do work out a lot, however I would love to get a set schedule (i.e., legs on Wednesday, arms on Friday, etc.) so that it is easier to plan workouts and stay consistent.

7. Why not?! Hehe

I hope 2014 has been good to everyone so far! I woke up with a pounding headache and made my sister go get me fast food. Womp womp womp. Good thing I am focusing on the positive! 

Things I'm Loving aka Things I Want

This shirt by Raw Threads

Um, hello, how freaking cute. Anyone that knows me knows I am a crazy cat lady, so I must procure this shirt ASAP. 

The Mizuno Rave Widers 17

Crazy Running Girl has a great review of the shoes and it makes me want them so badly! I have been wanting a lighter shoe that has stability and have had no luck soon. Maybe these are my shoe soulmates?

I also want this on my front porch:

No explanation needed.

Pro Compression marathon socks in argyle

Because who doesn't like argyle?

And finally....

One of Mile posts' "I Run This Body" sweatshirts. In grey, just like my soul. 

So please go get me all of these things. K bye!

How to be lazy and productive at the same time

Welcome to my Saturday! Aka Caturday.

 This is how it went down, in chronological order. I have the uncanny ability to be productively lazy. It's a gift and a curse. I figured I would share in case anyone would ever like to try. Just follow the steps below - they are a recipe for success. Or failure. Depends on your perspective.

1. Run a half marathon. Proceed to convince yourself that 99% of Americans are still sleeping in their beds while you are in Orlando running 13.1 miles in unbearable conditions for December. This obviously entitles you to whatever the heck you want for the rest of the day.

Photo cred: Paula from Eat: Watch: Run - there is no other way put into words the atrocity that the weather in Orlando was yesterday...and has been for quite some time.

2. Eat. Then tell yourself that because you ate, you must rest. Continue to rest for hours upon end, because it wears you out to keep resting for so long.

3. Do three loads of laundry, fold them, but don't put them away. The fact that you even did laundry in the first place should be rewarded. With a cider. Or three.

This cider literally tastes like liquid Jolly Ranchers. Which is good for my taste buds, and bad for every other aspect of my life.

4. Organize your house, but don't clean it. Cleaning should be saved for another day. There's always tomorrow, right?

5. Watch five episodes of American Horror Story Asylum. Scare yourself into taking a shower. See, you weren't lazy, you took a shower! (6 hours after you ran a half marathon, but whatever).

This show is amazing. But it really does scare the crap out of me.

6. Leave the house to get Panera for dinner. The fact that you got out of bed qualifies as an accomplishment. It does not matter that you did not even drive and you convinced your bf that he needed to chauffeur you. You left your bed and that's all that matters.

7. Eat Panera. So productive! And tasty.

I love their Thai Chicken Salad. This is not my actual salad. I got it to go and then inhaled it so fast that there was no time for pictures.

8. Play with your new Samsung Galaxy 3 Tablet. 

This thing is pretty cool and I do not regret my Cyber Monday purchase.

9. Google "cat memes" and then laugh hysterically at what Google provides you with.

10. Complain about the fact that Sunday will be too busy and you don't really want to do anything.