Mon 10/28: Vinyasa yoga 1:00
Tues 10/29: Progression run 1:00 5.97 mi, 57:00
Wed 10/30:
Thurs 10/31:
Fri 11/1:
Sat 11/2: Rest
Sun 11/3: DRC Half Marathon 13.1 mi, 2:01:20
Poor Michael has been sick for a couple of weeks and, unfortunately, it caught me this week. Wednesday afternoon, I wasn't feeling so hot and Thursday morning I woke up congested and achey. I was feeling a little better by that afternoon and went for an easy run in the neighborhood. Thursday also happened to be Halloween, so it was fun seeing the kids in their costumes getting ready to trick or treat!
I decided to rest Friday and Saturday to make sure I'd be ready for Sunday's DRC Half. I didn't have any particular goals but planned on at least starting with the 2:05 pace group. Sunday morning, I felt a lot better and my congestion was only in my sinuses, no chest congestion or coughing. The weather was very cool, but I wore a short-sleeve tech shirt and shorts. I would rather be cold waiting at the starting line than too warm later in the race. (The DRC Half does offer bag drop, but I don't tend to take advantage of this. For some reason, I am afraid that my stuff will get lost!) I parked at Mockingbird Station and used the shuttle provided by the race to get to the start line.
I found Clay, who was pace leading the 2:05 group and lined up with him and several of our 3:70 group. I looked for Brandon, but didn't see him. I knew he was shooting for a PR and was planning to start with the 1:50 pace group. The DRC Half was doing a corral start this year and corrals were not assigned but you were asked to get in one of three corrals based on your estimated finish time. The 2:05 group was starting in the second corral (estimated finish times 2:00-2:15). Our wave didn't start long after the 7:30 start time at all, before I knew it, we were off! In fact, when we crossed the start line, I went to start my watch and realized I hadn't even asked it to find my location yet, whoops! It took about a mile until it found me, so I wasn't sure of my progress during the race.
The course took us north first, then back south to run along the west side of White Rock Lake. Next, we got to go into some of the surrounding neighborhoods, including my sister-in-law and brother-in-law's neighborhood! They brought my nephew out to cheer, I think he had fun watching all the runners go by! They also got some fun action shots, I'll have to go back and add them later.
I had told myself that I would stick with the 2:05 pace group for the first 10 miles and then pull ahead if I felt good. However, once we were around the 5 mile mark, I realized my legs felt really good and decided to go ahead and speed up.
Michael's sister, brother-in-law and our nephew came out to cheer! They got some good action shots. Luke now says, "Want to see Auntie Becca run the race!"
I managed to keep a pace close to 9:00 per mile as we looped the south side of the lake. As the course approached the 10 mile mark, I tried to do some math in my head (remember my watch was off) to see what kind of time I thought I could finish with. I figured I could get close to 2 hours if I kept my current speed. I was able to keep my pace, even speeding up a little bit the closer I got to the finish line.
When I crossed the finish line, the clock said 2:03:xx, so I knew I had beat that time (as the clock was displaying the gun time and I was in the second corral). I was happy knowing that I had just finished my second fastest half marathon! It's funny how when I go into a race with no expectations, I end up surprising myself. I had to walk around a little bit to get my heart rate back down, I didn't realize how hard I had been pushing until I stopped! I got my medal and some water, said hi to my friend Jessica who was working in the finish chute, then headed into the finisher's area.
I got in line for my finisher's shirt and found a few friends to chat with. Everyone had a great race, lots of my running friends set new PR's! I think the weather played a major factor, we could not have asked for a better day for a race! Brandon and I finally found each other, he had smashed his PR goal with a 1:52 finish! That's almost 20 minutes faster than his previous PR, how amazing! He, Serena and I went to the beer tent and got some Lakewood Brewery Company beer to celebrate.
Running and beer, what could be better?
My official time was 2:01:20, much better than I would have thought I could do and about 10 minutes faster than last year! The DRC Half was a huge confidence boost and a great way to finish off Week 16 of training! It's hard to believe we're in the home stretch, December 8 will be here before we know it.
This week's plans:
Mon 11/4: Strength training (legs)
Tues 11/5: Base/easy 1:20
Wed 11/6: Vinyasa yoga
Thurs 11/7: Base plus strides 1:30
Fri 11/8: Recovery :50
Sat 11/9: 18 mi long
1 comment:
Awesome job!! And coming off a cold, you did great!
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