Seattle 1/2 Marathon

DATE: 25-Nov-07
MILES: 13.1 miles
TIME: 2:28:23
PACE: 11:19
ROUTE: Seattle Half Marathon
NUTRITION: My usual high protein bfast, ½ bfast cookie 1 hour before, 1 Carb Boom at start, 1 Gu during, some gatorade, and water every 2-3 miles.

COMMENTS: I am so pleased with my pace and time! I had what I thought were too-high hopes of finishing at 2:30. I felt great for the entire event. Many hills seemed effortless compared to training runs! Only the last ¾ mile was hard and I think that was because the finish was sooo close. I almost cried at the finishline. I was just sooo happy with the accomplishment. I am somewhat achy dayafter – quads and back. But that's OK ;)

GOOD CHOICES:
Tapering. It paid off. I will be confident, even if I am itchy to run, that tapering is good for Marathon day performance.

One mile into the race I lost my water bottle. I decided to take water at each aid station. This worked out great since this event is so well supported. I think I ended up consuming more water than I would have with my own water!

No Heart Rate Monitor. I prayed about this one. Felt good about not wearing it. I liked listening to my body.

No music. Would you believe I am beginning to like it? I liked hearing how my breathing is steady and rhythmic. Whodda thunk?

Positive talk. Works wonders. Makes me feel good and accomplished!

Hill-top momentum. This has not only made a difference in my performance, but also in my attitude about hills.

Starting line clothing. I wore a fleece hoodie I didn't mind tossing along the way. I would unload the extra garment at an aid station on a less popluated event.

THINGS I LEARNED:
Important. Really important. Plan for REST for 2 nights before an event. Pre-race nerves interrupted sleep the night before. That is to be expected. However, I lost sight of that on Friday and I went out dancing (fun!fun!) instead of getting the solid night’s sleep I planned. Had I rested well on Friday night, I would have better handled the lack of sleep on Saturday.

Tell my support people what I am wearing! I was really sad to miss them at the finish.

Skip the recovery area for this event. Would rather have b-lined out of there after pictures. But the broth was DIVINE!

Plan to arrive at the start line with enough time to use the toilet! ‘nuff said.

Stretch. In the excitement of the finish I didn’t. I kept moving – walking slowly -- but I wish I had stretched.

FOOT(get it?)NOTE: Today I went to the gym to run a gentle 3 miles on the treadmill. The goal was to warm and work out the unstretched kinks from yesterday. I can not believe how good I felt, how good running felt. I walked a .25 mile warmup, ran 3 miles at a 10min mile average, and cooled down for another .25. After some light core work and LOTS of stretching I headed home, feeling good and energetic with just a few lingering kinks. I was weepy on the ride home.

I can't believe that I am able to do this.

Blessings!
Nancy, Marathoner