i signed up for
this race about 5 weeks before it happened after i saw it posted on facebook. i liked the spirit of the race and i was itching for some sort of goal, even though i had just decided that i liked not having a strict training schedule. lol. because of other plans i had already made, this left me about 4 weeks to train for a hilly, challenging half with a base of maybe 12 miles a week and a long run of only 9.3 miles since the marathon about 3 months prior. good luck!
i did some google searching and found to my non-surprise that i wasn't the only fool hardy enough to attempt this unrecommended feat. i cobbled together what would pass for my "training plan"which basically started 4 weeks out with a long run of 7. i would add 2 miles to this each week, culminating in 13.1 at the race. add team workouts each week (~3.5-4 miles) and another run of 3-5 miles, and that was that. i planned to treat the race more like a long training run (even though i wasn't really training for anything) but still hoped i'd come in under 2 hours. a bit ambitious for me, given my lack of training, lack of fitness and the course conditions. but my pride would've been stung by a time starting with 2.
my parents & sister came up to spectate & cheer! i made dinner the night before the race and we chatted a bit then headed to bed.
the day before the race, i went out for a 2 mile shake-out run. it was super warm so i decided on a singlet and knee length tights for the race. race day was a bit chillier than i expected and everyone else was in long sleeves, many with multiple layers. uhoh. i considered keeping my (cotton, non-tech) sweatshirt with me, but ultimately decided against it. i was chilly in the first mile or so but warmed up after that and was glad i hadn't kept the sweatshirt. a long sleeve tech under the singlet would have been a good idea though.
about 20 of my teammates were also doing this race, which was cool.
a few miles in, i spotted jill & bette ahead of me and decided i would try to keep jill in sight. she is faster than me, so i hoped this would keep me moving. it worked for a few miles until i lost her over a big hill. jill ended up getting a new course PR!
i saw my crew about mile 2 which was a surprise. there were not many spectators but a few had gathered in some spots. the course winds around two lakes, and i was surprised to see that they were frozen over and buried under a blanket of snow. oh yeah, it's still winter. ha. the hills were as plentiful and rugged as advertised. very little of the route is flat; there are several steep, long uphills and lots of rolling terrain. i just tried to maintain a constant pace.
about mile 6, i saw beni handing out gels. it's so nice to see a friendly face mid-race!
i pressed on. i knew i was dragging a bit, the lack of training & fitness coming into play. i aimed to keep it at about a 9 min pace until mile 11 or so. around mile 11 there were photographers and my crew had made it there too! unfortunately this was a hilly bit so it was a struggle!
but after that i picked up my pace a bit. then mile 12 appeared and i pushed a bit more. finally approaching the finish there was a nice downhill and to my surprise my legs did not protest when i pushed a little harder. i saw a couple of my teammates who had finished and doubled back for a cooldown. they yelled at me to lean forward, go faster, and pass the woman in front of me. lol. so i did. i came in at 1:55:24 and was happy with that. many of my teammates won awards and/or set PRs so that was great.
so my finish time was between my times for my two previous HMs (1:52:56 and 1:58:16). glad i got my sub-2!! :)
here's my garmin data. ignore the total time, i neglected to shut it off immediately.
| 1 | 9:05.5 | 1.00 | 9:06 |
| 2 | 8:41.3 | 1.00 | 8:41 |
| 3 | 8:27.0 | 1.00 | 8:27 |
| 4 | 8:44.2 | 1.00 | 8:44 |
| 5 | 8:25.5 | 1.00 | 8:26 |
| 6 | 8:39.3 | 1.00 | 8:39 |
| 7 | 8:58.9 | 1.00 | 8:59 |
| 8 | 8:58.6 | 1.00 | 8:59 |
| 9 | 9:04.5 | 1.00 | 9:05 |
| 10 | 8:59.9 | 1.00 | 9:00 |
| 11 | 8:49.4 | 1.00 | 8:50 |
| 12 | 8:40.1 | 1.00 | 8:40 |
| 13 | 8:42.2 | 1.00 | 8:42 |
| 14 | 1:29.5 | 0.20 | 7:19 |
