If you follow me on Instagram or Facebook, you know that I had a pretty incredible race this past Saturday. Without a doubt, my best race performance ever—but not only because of the time on the clock. No, there was so much more that came into play with this personal record.
Friday morning, I headed the 90 or so miles to Richmond, VA for a girls weekend with Saturday races as the basis for this trip. My friend Emily & I enjoyed a little shopping, had a nice lunch, & then went to the expo. The weather was AWFUL. Pouring rain nearly the entire day. Gross. Gross. Luckily, the rain was scheduled to taper off a couple hours before race time. For once, the weather people were absolutely correct {race day temps were GREAT, in the low 40s, with zero rain}. Dinner that night was at CAVA for a yummy grains + greens bowl with tons of veggies & protein on top. A pit stop at a random bar Mojo’s was next, & then on to the hotel for a fairly early night.
CAVA goodness!
I would guess I was in bed from about 10:30pm until around 6am. However, sleep was total crap… as it usually is for me the first night in a new hotel bed. I swear I woke up every time I changed position. Really annoying, but I was glad I had enjoyed a good nights’ sleep the previous night. I am believer in the theory that sleep TWO nights before a big race is more important than the actual night before.
Once I got up race morning, I ate my Picky Oats {Can’t Beet Chocolate} about 90 minutes before race start time. I quickly dressed in warm clothes & after potty break #1, I headed out for a 2 mile warm-up. I had plotted a route that was easy & minimized my chances of getting lost, ha! The warm-up itself was not great. My watched dinged with a horrible performance rating at its’ normal early-in-the-run-interval. I tried to not let this get to me, but how could I not?? I didn’t feel great & my stomach was a MESS. “Ignore this & any excuses my brain would try to create”, I told myself. I was ready to race & see how much fitness I had gained. I got back to the hotel in time for potty break #2 {Ugh, please don’t let this be an omen of the day, I thought} & then a quick change into my racing clothes. Slowly, my stomach did start to settle & I ate a banana.
We walked the ~1/2 mile to the start, dropped a dry bag, & then hurried to try & shimmy our way into our overcrowded Corral A. About this time, I split off from my friend Emily & needed to focus on getting myself ready to run. Ear buds in. Playlist on. Phone into Koala Clip. Shed the fleece throw-away. Sip on a Huma gel. Turn on the Garmin. Find GPS signal. Click on pre-programmed workout. I had a lot to do & only 3 minutes to get things straight. Thankfully, everything went off without a hitch. Right at 7:30am, my adventure through the streets of Richmond began.
Leading up to the race, my coach had given me the following race plan:
“Miles 1-3 7:35s
Miles 4-6: 7:35s
Miles 7-9: 7:30s
Miles 10-13: 7:25s or whatever you have left.”
Strangely enough, this race plan didn’t scare me. I was nervous about the last step, as the “whatever you have left” was when I pretty much bombed the Crawlin’ Crab Half a month earlier. Because on that day, I had nothing left with 4 miles to go. I so wanted this time to be different!
Back on the course, I was held back a bit the first half mile due to the crowds. When I had shimmy’d my way into Corral A, I never made it up to the 1:40 pace group. I did not intend to run near the pacer, but I did think it would make sense if he were somewhat in my sights since my main race goal was sub-1:40 {he was out of my sights/too far ahead for most of the race}. Just a little soap box… as you will see in a bit, I ran faster than 1:40 average pace (7:37/mile) for much of the race; however, I did not catch up to/pass the 1:40 pacer until mile 12. TWELVE. For those friends who pace groups of people, please run even splits & avoid banking time!! I am convinced this particular pace group ran at least a minute faster than goal—which is HUGE considering 4-5 seconds per mile is a large “chunk of change”! Okay, rant over.
As I mentioned before, I had a pre-programmed the run into my watch in the 3 segments: 7:35s, 7:30s, 7:25s {I had given myself a 3 second window on each end so my watch would only beep if I were outside of those parameters}. Doing this I do believe was clutch! Just stay in the average for this segment, I would tell myself. Miles 1-6 ticked by uneventfully. I only had a brief worry of “Can I actually get down to 7:25s today??” Otherwise, I stayed positive & focused on my nutrition plan/the scenery. I would take a Huma gel at the start, then around miles 5 & 10. SaltStick pill for electrolyte replacement around miles 6 & 11. Basically, I was practicing my CIM fuel plan during a long run.
7:35, 7:36, 7:35, 7:31, 7:37, 7:35. Boom! 7:35 average on the dot, on to part 2. I thought.
At mile 6 I popped in a piece of RunGum & it was time to get to work! Only 3 miles in this segment. I didn’t want to overdo it yet, as there were a good amount of race remaining. Reel it in, I told myself.
7:30, 7:32, 7:22 Whoops! That last mile was too quick…. But I’m feeling strangely good! I kept on.
Finally. We’ve made it to the 4.1 miles of “whatever you have left” part. Well hot damn, I had a good bit left in me! No crumble today, thank you very much. I told myself to keep it steady & on planned pace for the first 2 miles, then I could let loose & go wild at mile 11. HA!
7:25, 7:23
So how much do I have left??! This was what I wondered internally during a check-in. I wasn’t dying. I wasn’t struggling. I had ignored HR the entire run, but I knew it was reasonable as I wasn’t breathing heavily. Hammer. Dropped. Let’s go! I began passing folks & finally saw that 1:40 pacing group up ahead. I wanted to pass them with authority. I thought about commenting as I did so, but decided to keep it classy. Keep pushing. I knew I really only needed to get to mile 12.5, because after that point, the downhill finish would ease the final half mile of racing.
7:11, 6:59
Somewhere during miles 11-12, those preceding well-under-pace miles, I got emotional. I knew the sub-1:40 was “in the bag”. I did not over-analyze the total time to try & eeeek through on some number on the clock. I did not check my HR. I simply just ran what I could, in order to get the best version of me on the day. I knew people like my friend Kara, who BQ’d that day(!!), were pushing their bodies to the limits. I was determined to do so as well. I had the shock set in & couldn’t help but think, “Is this real life? Am I really running this well & FEELING this great, in this WIND & on these HILLS??” Good freakin’ god. Training works. Miles works. Consistency works. Having a coach works.
Finish Line, just up ahead! Photo cred: My BALG
At the top of the downhill finish, I saw about half of my #BALG, who had finished their 8K races already {3 other #BALG were on the half marathon course with me, crushing their own races}. Hearing my girls cheering propelled me to the finish. Or maybe it was their comments on my booty. Whatever it was, they effing rock {as did the rest of the fun girls weekend!!}! The final stretch of 0.18 miles I ran at 6:20 pace. WTF?! I did it. Two thumbs up to the camera person & across the finish line I went. A long-time goal of sub-1:40 was not only reached, but it was CRUSHED. If I did this, what else am I capable of??
Official Time: 1:38:01 (7:29/mile), a 3 minute + 41 second PR {foreshadowing of my 3:41 marathon PR about to go down in a few weeks…..hmm, I hope so???!}
Overall: 501/7,590
Female: 153/4,756
Age Group: 24/763
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