New personal record for the half-marathon!

I wasn't even sure I was going to run the Kirkland half marathon. After all, I haven't been training to run a fast half-marathon, and it cost $50, and it was on Mother's Day, and so on. But I decided I'd do it just to get a change of pace - a new place to run, stimulus to run at a higher heart rate, etc. So I called Danielle on Saturday (a total rest day for me - had a funeral to go to in the morning then played with the family in the afternoon) and said, "Hey, let's PR this course tomorrow!" Of course she was game.

It was a PERFECT morning - sunny and clear. I overdressed slightly (capri running pants, which were fine, but a long-sleeve shirt and gloves, which were unnecessary), but it worked fine. The course was pretty hilly, with five significant uphill climbs and only two significant descents (but one of them was very long, and the other at the very end). Our plan was to run 9 minute miles consistently, and kick it up a notch or two at the end.

Our first mile (crowded with a zillion other runners) was 9:10, and our second landed us at 18:20 - so we were going pretty perfectly. The third mile brought us to the first big climb. I said out loud, "Wow. That's a hill!" Someone behind me said, "Hey, you're not supposed to say that - you're supposed to tell yourself it's flat." I answered, "We love hills! Nothing makes us stronger!" Someone else behind me said, "Somebody hit her." I laughed - then Danielle and I took off and never saw those people again. In fact, on every hill we passed other runners and walkers, and in nearly every case they never caught back up to us. At mile 10, with a 5K left, Danielle really wanted to speed up, and I didn't want to yet. I felt good, but not like I had a whole lot left. But she picked it up, and we did one of the miles towards the end in 8:30. The very end brought two uphills followed by one steep downhill. After the downhill, I could just see how much Danielle had left in her - and how little I had. I told her to go ahead of me. She said I could go too, that I could run the rest at any pace I wanted to. Well, I wanted to run at probably an 8 minute mile. She wanted to a little faster - so she went ahead, I focused internally on staying in motion at a good rate and she crossed the finish line 19 seconds ahead of me.

My gun time was 1:58:19. I'm certain my actual time was at least a minute faster - we were pretty far back from the start line after the gun went off, but the chip times haven't been posted yet. (Update: My chip time was 1:57:30 - yay!)

For my food strategy, I executed on a new plan: Three GUs, one each at mile 4, 8, and 11. I really felt like this was perfect - I never felt like I couldn't run or didn't want to run any more, like I usually do on a half marathon. And though I did feel a little full at the end, I think it worked better than any other plan I've ever tried. I also carried all my own water, and I used water mixed with Nuun. So I think I'm going to do this on the half-iron.

My best half-marathon prior to this was Seafair last year; I did 1:58:21 (chip time) - 1:59 something gun time. I was happy to see that this wasn't a fluke! Hilly courses are good for me. I've definitely been more successful on a hilly course (Seafair, Kirkland) than on a flatter one (Super Jock n Jill). Mercer Island was a different story, since it was after biking and I had to save something to bike home, and Seattle, my first half-marathon, was totally different since I ran the first hour with friends, really slowly, then negative-split the run by a lot.

So today I didn't rest - I'll be out of town this weekend, so I felt like it would be better to push on through for a few more days and rest this weekend. I did an hour of indoor cycling plus a four-mile run. Fun!

So here are today's data:

Food:
Pre-workout: 1/2 bagel with cream cheese, milk in coffee: 210 cals
Breakfast: Cheese, yogurt, granola, milk in coffee: 400 cals
Lunch: Cashew chicken and some rice
Snack: Hershey's kiss and a small Reese's Peanut Butter cup
Real Snack: Mojo bar
Dinner: Beef tri-tip, carrots, brown rice


Exercise:
Bike 1 hour
Run 40 minutes
Calories burned: 800