I ran my ninth half marathon this morning at the Atlanta Thanksgiving Day Half Marathon and I set a new personal record (PR) of 1:49:11 (an 8:20 pace).
It was cold out. I stayed in the car until just before the race started. I had parked very close to the start line. I wore Under Armor Cold Gear leggings and a tech tee shirt. I was a little chili since it was 41 degrees at the start but not too bad since I wasn’t standing around long and I didn’t get really hot during the race, although it did heat up to the upper 40s, almost 50, and sunny by the time I was done.
I used one gel during the race. I started it at mile 6 and was nursing it until the very end. I dropped it at the last aid station, during the final mile. It was a Clif Gel, Citrus + 25mg caffeine flavor. My handheld was filled with water and I sipped on it the whole time, never stopping to refill or drink from a cup. I was conserving time. I was really trying to PR.
Trying that hard to PR is never easy, but you do always have that voice in your head to help you along when you want to start to take it easy that says “come on, you can still do it. you can make a PR. don’t let up at all. give it everything you’ve got.” I listened to that voice today, despite the suffering and despite the pain. Racing all out is hard. It is worth it in the end when you meet your goal, like I did today, even though just barely.
I was a couple pounds heavy in the morning, which was discouraging. I hadn’t properly eliminated for the past day or so, I guess. I’m technically PMS so I’m sure that had something to do with it. Morning scale was at 133.5. It was 131.5 on the 19th in the morning. It needs to start trending down. Dietary changes are coming. These first few weeks with the scale are for my getting used to seeing what the trends are during a month’s time. First of the year, the weight is going to be coming off and staying off for good. Being a little bit lighter will really help my running and overall happiness.
After the race I started to feel cold rather quickly, even though I put on a recovery jacket, so I decided not to stick around and see all my friends but instead go home and have a hot bath. It took me about 30 minutes to get out of there because of traffic, even with my sweet parking spot near an exit.
After I got out of the hot bath, I did the feet on the wall pose for about 20 minutes. That is a very helpful pose for recovery. I did it again later, before bed. I am going to practice this regularly. It seems to help my back.
Today’s race went well and I am pleased with the results, but it was very difficult. I started in wave A, per my bib, which was awesome, but what that meant was that I would eventually be passed by a lot of people, even though I was able to get out there pretty strong initially. It is more emotionally difficult to be passed than it is to pass people, but I like to be able to run among the strong whenever I can. I feel like I am getting better at pushing myself. I don’t know if I have actually really gotten any faster or if I have just gotten better at suffering more and stopping less. Regardless, improvement continues and for that I am greatly thankful.
Happy Thanksgiving! I didn’t do any thing with anyone today. All I felt like doing was lie around and recover. I ate whatever I had to eat here in the house. Nothing special at all. I was too tired to call family. Sometimes I just feel the need to stay contained within myself. Regardless, there are many things for which I am thankful and my performance at the half marathon today is one of them.
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