Florida Beach Halfathon, Tierra Verde, Florida, March 17, 2013: race recap

I feel like this could be the simplest race recap ever. I woke up early. I ran a half marathon. I got a medal. I drank green beer. I came home.

It was just kind of a blah race for me. That says nothing bad about the race itself. I loved the race, the medal, the green beer, everything. But, my race was kind of non-eventful, which on one hand is good (no major meltdowns), but on the other hand is bad (no big, emotional "aha" moment). It just was. 

This course was the same as the Halloween Halfathon I ran in October, so I knew it was a flat, somewhat boring course. Thankfully, many people wore green in some form or another or dressed up. That added some excitement.

Even though I had running group friends there, they were all doing the 5K (aside from our speedy coach, Pila). So, I was on my own. 

The course is a 3-mile loop (the 5K course) that leads to a 5-mile out-and-back portion. It's along the beach, but you rarely see the water. 

I started off and pretty quickly had some calf pain. I'm not sure what was up with that, but after the first mile, it went away. 

Mile 1: 11:34
Mile 2: 12:01
Mile 3: 11:34

I didn't really have a plan for the race. I just wanted to run and see what happened. I took my GU gel right before mile 5.

Mile 4: 11:14
Mile 5: 11:28
Mile 6: 11:33

Nothing good or bad happened. I kept running at a pretty consistent pace, and I felt fine.

Mile 7: 11:25
Mile 8: 11:28
Mile 9: 11:26

It was around mile 9 that I started attempting to calculate my finish time. I'm horrible at this! I lose all math skills while running. But, I started to think I was pretty close to my personal best of 2:30:54. I got a little excited, but I was still "eh" about the whole thing. I took my next GU gel close to mile 10.

Mile 10: 11:26
Mile 11: 11:12
Mile 12: 11:32

At this point, I was still looking good in terms of time. I was just tired. My legs and hips were over this whole running thing at this point.

Mile 13: 12:09 (Gah!)
Mile 0.19: 9:15 

I started beating myself up in mile 13 knowing that I was losing it. I was mad at myself for running my slowest mile at mile 13. I was really disappointed in my finish (finally, some emotion).

Almost to the finish ... and swinging my arm in front of me like
I've been told not to do.

My finish time: 2:31:44. Exactly 50 seconds behind that personal record. 

I got over my disappointment pretty quickly, realizing I couldn't do anything about it at that point. I felt like I did what I could to try and beat it (now, of course, I can find all kinds of ways to cut 51 seconds off my time ...). On that day at that time, that was my best. As much as I wish I could have been faster in mile 13, I wasn't. 

The green beer helped. 

And a sweet medal. 

And another sweet medal. If you completed the halfathon challenge (half marathons in October, December, January and March), you received an additional medal and a shirt. 

I love my collection.

I also love this race series. And, I'll be doing it again. 

Ever have a "blah" race? Ever miss a PR by seconds? Did you beat yourself up? Did you run a St. Patrick's Day race?

From excited to eh to excited

So, I have a half marathon this weekend.

And, I was really excited about it because I haven't ran a race in more than a month.

Now, I'm kind of eh. 

I had a disastrous run on Thursday night. Disastrous as in my stomach hurt, and I walked almost half of it. 

And, I don't feel like I've run a decent distance since the Rock 'n' Roll Half Marathon in February. I think my longest "long" run was 7 miles. (I've been running consistently, but focusing more on hill work than distance.)

And, I know the course. It's the same course I ran for the Halloween Halfathon (in a Mr. Potato Head costume). And, I know it's boring. Flat, but boring. 

But, since it's on St. Patrick's Day, I'm getting festive again (and that makes any race better). 

And, I have some running group friends that will be at the race.

And, I'll be receiving this awesome medal. 

And, it will be my fourth halfathon in this series, which means an additional medal for completing them all.

 Oh, and beer after the race. 

OK, I'm excited now. I'm ready to race on Sunday!

Anyone else doing a St. Patrick's Day race? This is my first, but I love being festive!