I just realized that while I updated my Daily Mile site with a recap of the Cap City Half Marathon, I hadn’t gotten around to updating you all here.  How silly of me!  I had scheduled posts to go up for the end of last week and the weekend so that I didn’t have to worry about it while I was stressing out about my race.

Let me start by showing you a picture:

Yep, that is me at the finish with a glass of bubbly!  What?  You don’t drink champagne at 10:30 in the morning?  Normally I don’t either, but I just finished my 3rd half marathon and I was trying to loosen up my leg muscles.  It was gluten-free!

I had an amazing race!  While I didn’t break 2 hours, my pipe dream, I followed my plan for the most part.  I got started a little fast, as most people do.  It is so hard to not get caught up in all of the excitement and run with the crowd.  It is much like driving on the highway, you tend to want to go the pace of the others around you.  Note to self: consider lining up a little further back next time.  I have to hand it to the organizers of the race, the corral set-up worked very well.  There was no congestion as the race started, something I have encountered in other races.  I would much rather have to slow down and adjust my pace than trip over walkers or try to fight my way through a sea of runners.  There were several gluten-free food choices at the finish line!  While I would have loved a slice of Donato’s Pizza or bagel from Panera, I chose an apple, banana and could have had a Muscle Milk (gluten- and lactose-free).

I had a plan laid out and I executed it fairly well. By starting out slower, and keeping my heart rate in Zone 2 during the first half of the race, I was able to really pick it up towards the end of the race finish strong!  Now that I see how it works, I hope to work on fine tuning in my next half marathon this fall.

I have learned so much over the past 5 months with MIT.  I love running with a training group on the weekends.  Not only have I met some amazing people & new friends, but the knowledge of the pace coaches & other runners is priceless.  I have gotten over my sorrow of not being able to run The Flying Pig Marathon – it didn’t last long.  I like the fact that I am able to walk without pain after Saturday’s race, something I couldn’t do after my marathon in Cleveland last year.

I am taking the next two weeks to give my body a much-needed break from being beat up.  I won’t run at all until this weekend and then it will be a very, very easy few miles.  I swam yesterday and did Pilates today.  I am also continuing to stretch, foam roll & ice my knee twice a day.  I am really surprised by how good I feel.  The icing is pretty much preventative at this point.

Once I get back into training, I am working on adding more strength training and speed training for fall.  I am setting my goal for my fall marathon – to break 2 hours.  I finished Saturday’s race in 2:07:42, so I know if I focus & concentrate on the right things, I can do it.

I love this quote from Kara Goucher’s new book “I tell runners to divide the race into thirds. Run the first part with your head, the middle part with your personality & the last part with your heart.” Mike Fanelli, club coach