March O'Madness Half Marathon Race Review

I signed up for this race the day it opened. If you are interested sign-up as soon as registration opens because it sells out quick. Originally I didn't intend to run this as part of marathon training but it worked out that way.


 I was super bummed that the weather was expected to be crappy as in freezing and cloudy. Well at least it was not raining or snowing. But I did my best to pack everything that I own to be prepared. Good thing too because it was cooooooolllldddd. I got up at 4:30ish, drank some coffee, ate some oatmeal and layered, layered and added some more layers. Leaving the house around 5:40 I was at the race by 6:40. Popped in and out of packet pick-up in less than five minutes. Great volunteers with a well organized packet pick-up. The volunteers through-out this race were great. Dressed in green, helpful and cheered for everyone. Amazing.
After picking up my stuff I headed out for 7 warm-up miles. 7 miles of hills. The seven went well. I ran a portion of the course and detoured through a nice neighborhood. On my way back there were a lot of people warming up. It was fun to watch the speedy people warm up. They just look more graceful. I embrace the plod.

 Hills. That pretty much sums up this race. Ever single hill I came across including the hills during my warm-up I was just like


God I hate hills. And courses like this, which has to be the hilliest course since the half I ran in Sedona if not hillier, just really enforce that I hardly ever run them and they just kill me. KILL ME.

NO MORE HILLS
 The good news is I feel like I put out a good, consistent effort for all twenty miles. Some of the hills on this course are named with signs at the bottom of them. Not sure why- I guess this way you can curse at them in a more personalized manner. The other thing is they are numbered. But when I came to hill #1 I was like wait, what.....isn't this like hill #15. Apparently the hill does not count if you do not spend twenty minutes running up it. Aid stations were good, water and Gatorade.  Power-aide gels were handed out at mile 7. Plenty of people along the way cheering. The course was beautiful, running past fields, nice neighborhoods and open space. Beautiful.
Medal obtainment- WIN
 I really, really loved this race. Even with the hills. I had worked myself into a tizzy on Saturday- it is going to be cold, twenty miles is so far, hills, HILLS, I am tired from the 21 other miles I have run this week. Finally D was like- 'hey just relax and have some fun'. Oh right I am not saving lives here or going to the Olympics. Just go run. So that is what I did. I went and ran and had a ton of fun hanging out with other runners, running outside, getting a medal and kicking off spring racing season. Oh and I got this sweet sweatshirt. Love it!

13.1 completed in 2:17:58. Not my fastest but not my slowest. And to be honest, not sure I would have gone any faster if I had been on fresh legs (see above hill discussion).
20 miles done in 3:23. 10 min. mile pace. Boom- awesome.
The best, best thing about this run was that when I was done with 20 miles I felt like I could go another six miles no problem. Okay it would be a little painful and maybe got a little slower but yeah I could have kept going. I finally feel confident about my training for the marathon. And that is a good feeling.

Any racing this weekend?

Comments

  1. Jogging on CoffeeMarch 18, 2013 at 5:20 AM

    Congrats on another great race! I'm glad you had fun, even if the course was super hilly :) And again, I am in awe of you doing 7 miles before a race like that.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. BeanMarch 18, 2013 at 6:29 PM

      Thanks! I thought it would be worse than it was. I am convinced running is mostly mental.

      Delete
  2. BeckaMarch 18, 2013 at 9:29 AM

    That's a great time! Love the medal!!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. BeanMarch 18, 2013 at 6:30 PM

      Thanks! I was surprised that it went by as quick as it did. Goes to show that the race atmosphere makes everything more fun.

      Delete
  3. Cory ReeseMarch 18, 2013 at 7:22 PM

    You are definitely well-trained for the marathon after a run like this. Well done!

    (And your little video clips are awesome!)

    ReplyDelete
  4. JinaMarch 19, 2013 at 9:27 AM

    Congratulations on a fabulous race! You did an incredible job with all of those hills and 7 miles before the race. You are going to rock your marathon! I love the medal, the sweatshirt and your hair. Is it naturally curly? It's really cute!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. BeanMarch 20, 2013 at 5:58 PM

      Thanks! The hair is naturally curly- humidity helps and lack of blow drying skills.:)

      Delete
  5. Jac @ Running in the Bike LaneMarch 20, 2013 at 8:25 PM

    You're amazing!!!!! I hope I'm as positive as you are when I run 20 miles!!

    ReplyDelete

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