Race Recap: Freeport Half Marathon

Today I ran my 7th half-marathon with two of my college friends, Theodora and Lindsay.  Linds and I ran track in college and Theodora was Lindsay's freshman year roommate. Since reconnecting in the blog world, Theo and I have become super tight and I hoped to pace her to her first sub 2 hour half marathon.

But let's rewind. After I ran Boston this year in April, I wrote a post called Marathon Perspective and decided that I needed to run one more marathon before hanging up the sneakers to start a family.  I then convinced Lindsay to sign up for MCM and we found this half marathon to work into our training while she was home from Hawaii.  Our goal was to break 1:50.

Well fast forward a few months and well... I decided I didn't have it in me to run another marathon at this time.  And I also forgot to train for this half marathon.  So a few weeks ago I told Theo I would get her that sub 2.

Well I got news for you.  Even if you've run 5 sub 2 half marathons in the past, you still have to train. I really believed knocking out 9:09 pace and breaking that 2 hour barrier would be a walk in the park.  I really was THAT confident.

And I continued that confidence even after the gun went off.  But something unexpected happened.  The course was WAY hillier than I ever expected.

In the first mile we were were climbing and descending and my calves were already tight.  I felt a little worried that it wasn't Theodora who might not hold on, it was me.

Theo and I continued on our merry way, laughing at the uphills and flying down the downhills only to be frightened to see the next hill.  Things were going smoothly after mile 4.

We started running really consistently. There was gatorade every two miles.  I would stop and drink the gatorade since I knew I needed the calories because I couldn't eat before the race.  Then I would run fast to catch up to Theo. (who by the way kicks ass at drinking while running- I was super impressed!)

Between mile 8-9, I remember a gatorade stop, running fast to catch up to Theo and another massive hill where I slowed down.  When I caught back up to her, I remember saying to Theo, "If I can't keep up, don't look back.  This is not my race, this is yours."  Sure enough the next hill, I had to stop and that was that. Theodora carried on.

After my slow 9th mile, I got my motivation back and I tried like hell to catch up to my friend.  We hit a massive downhill and I ran as fast as I could getting as close as 100 meters back and running an 8:41 mile.  But then I hit another hill and I realized I didn't have it in me.  What kept me going though was knowing that WE were BOTH going to break 2 hours and I was so excited for my friend.

At that point, I began to write this post in my head.  I figured I would name it "The Good, the Bad and the GREAT News."  Good being that I paced a two hour half marathon.  Bad being that I didn't pace Theodora and GREAT being that Theo was able to run much faster.

But as you can tell, that is not the name of this blog post.  Because, well... I couldn't get myself to move in the last two miles.  My last mile was my slowest of the race.  I wanted to break 2 hours to prove to myself I could with minimal training, but I didn't.  And I'm okay with it.

I felt a bit defeated after the race.  Lindsay got her 1:49.  A time I would have loved to run with her (and know someday I will).

I was a little disappointed and started to have a pity party for myself. But then...

...I saw Theodora and the light in her eyes and the smile on her face was enough to turn my dismay into happiness.  She not only broke two hours, but she killed it- negative splitting the course.  To see how far she has come in 3 short years is remarkable.  She is an inspiration to me and so many others.  I can't wait to see what the future holds for her in life and in running.

I love these girls and I feel so happy that I was able to spend the weekend with them : )

After the race, the girls ran 3.5 more miles and I thought to myself how happy I was not to be training for a marathon : )

Words cannot describe how proud I am of both Linds and Theo!  I can't wait to see how well they both do at their fall marathons : )

And for me.... I think I'm serious when I say I'm done with the distance for awhile.  I'll always run but I don't want to do double digits anymore.  I need something else for fitness in my life so if you have any suggestions, let me know!

BIG CONGRATS TO MY GIRL THEODORA- go to her blog and congratulate her!!!!