The first race of the year has now come and gone, but it was a fun one! The Run to the Pub takes place every March on the weekend of Saint Patrick’s Day. There is a 10k and a half marathon. I tried to get everyone that I knew to run it, but only ended up with 3 of us. Oh well. No one likes to train in the winter and this winter was a rough one. Our friends Scott and Sarah from Shelby came down to enjoy the race. Sarah came to run her first half marathon! Since it was a nice paced training run for me, Brent was nice enough to run with Sarah and left me go on ahead. Plus, Brent hadn’t been doing much training so this way he was less likely to die running a slower pace.
We woke up early and had our tasty breakfast. It was a mixture of bananas, oats, flax seed, coconut milk and chocolate protein powder baked in the oven. This was a breakfast that Sarah really enjoyed before one of her previous long runs. We looked at the temperature as we decided what would be best to wear. It was 37 degrees out by the time we left the house, so I went a little more minimal. I left the hat and gloves at home knowing that I’d warm up in the first couple of miles. We made it down to the bus pick up just in time to hop on and start driving towards the start line. Our friend was getting nervous. I was excited to only have to run 13.1 miles. I don’t know what was going on with Brent. We got off the bus and headed straight for the port-a-potty line. My thought is that even if you don’t have to go,the best thing to do is to get in line just in case. We stood in line for 40 minutes and still didn’t make it to the front of the line.
I gun went off and I headed on my way leaving Brent and Sarah behind. I was glad that Brent was running with her otherwise I would have since it was her first race. I was really excited that I would get a good distance in for a nice race pace training run that provided water. I hate carrying water. I also hate not having water. A race is always a great training run. I was still really cold, so I pulled my arm warmers down over my hands to help warm up my fingers. I didn’t warm up as soon as I had hoped which meant I was cold for over half of the race. Oh well! When I did warm up, I was thankful I had arm warmers that I could take off. I was feeling good as I knocked out each mile at a fairly consistent pace. I started to feel like I was dragging towards the end. I kept pushing and just went for it.
I crossed the finish line to see one of my friends volunteering by handing out water. I loved seeing him right as I crossed the line. I gave him a huge hug. I love my friends and I really loving seeing them after running long distances. It is always a great way to finish a race. I hung around with him for a moment as I indulged in water and some cuties (clementines). I then headed off to find Scott as we waited for Brent and his wife Sarah to cross the line. They came running in as Sarah had the biggest smile on her face! I was so excited for her. I love when my friends complete a race of any distance for the first time! Especially when they complete a half or a full marathon. She beat her time goal which is even better than just finishing! Now she has a PR that she needs to come back and beat. I hope she will run another half again!
The race was great! We didn’t win the free trip to the Dublin Marathon. Maybe we will win next year! Ha! I can dream though can’t I? We finished the race with a lovely breakfast/lunch over at the French Cafe. Yes, we had to go again! Nothing better than a tasty huge crepe after a race! I later looked at my splits for the race. I had some really great splits that I was very excited about. I did not PR, but it was the best training run for my marathon. I had two goals in mind for this half. 1. Run at my marathon race pace or just a bit better. (My race pace needs to be at least a 9:09 if I want to do it under 4 hours.) 2. Run the half in under 2 hours. I accomplished both. 🙂
Now to continue to log the long miles so I can race again in May. The marathon is two months away from today!
Jess’ Race Results:
1:55:50
8:51 min/mi
Overall Female: 141 out of 404
Age Group: 43 out of 124