Winter Runnerland Virtual Half Marathon Race Recap

I want to begin this race recap with acknowledging that I have an AMAZING running group!  I am a member of the Kitsap, WA chapter of Moms Run This Town.  Simply put, we are a group of busy moms that share a love of running.  We all understand that the kids come first and if we need to bring them along on a run, our stroller will GREATLY decrease our pace.  That all being said, my race on Saturday was a virtual run sponsored by the national Moms Run This Town chapter.  We paid a very affordable $11 (just for the medal if we chose) and decided what distance we wanted to run; 5k, 10k or half marathon.  I, of course, chose the half marathon.  I wanted to push myself and this was the best way. 

I woke up at 6 am when my alarm went off.  Let me tell you, if it was just a training run I probably would have skipped out.  I was tired.  I always find it difficult to sleep the night before a race, and the virtual race was no exception.  But I dragged my tired butt out of bed anyway.  I quickly got dressed in my long running pants, blue Under Armour, grey running jacket and my lucky running socks (yes I wrote lucky socks).  After I was dressed I came downstairs to have my ritual breakfast, oatmeal and coffee.  I was still trying to shake my nerves as I gathered all of my gear. 

Here is a list of what I brought with me:

• Phone (this is essential to me.  I feel a little bit more safe knowing anyone is a phone call away in an emergency)
• Headphones (just in case I needed some tunes or my running mates no-showed)
• Water Belt (both bottles were filled)
• 4 packets of GU (I used 2 of them on the run)
• Larabar (this was something new I got in my January Birchbox)
• Sugar-free gum (keeps your mouth from getting too dry while running)
• My Winter Runnerland Medal (I refrained from even trying it on before running the race)
• Wallet (need to have my driver's license with me when driving)
• Headlamp (we were starting at 7 am and this time of year it is still dark at that time)
• Reflective arm band (also for safety during the dark hours)
• Head band ear warmer (it was COLD out....and raining)

My one last KICK ASS item was the blue and white tutu that I created just for this occasion.  It is so cute!  I decided not to wear it for the first 10 miles simply because I didn't want it to get soaked and kick mud in to the back of it.  But I did put it on for the final 3!

I pulled in to the Silverdale Waterfront parking lot at 6:45 am.  I had to get a few last minutes things done (apply some chap stick, attach my race bib, warm up, etc).  I didn't see Sara or Syri yet so I waited in my car for a few minutes.  As previously stated, it was COLD!  They finally pulled in and we all got out.  Sara didn't have any safety pins for her bib so I brought a few extras.  We were hoping to get started at 7 am but we started just a bit late.  Our route was nice and flat so we kept a pretty quick pace for me, averaging around 10:45/mile.  Sara is a little faster than that but she was insistent upon staying with us and Syri hadn't run a long distance in a few months so she wanted to take it slow and steady as well.  Sara and I are true believers in the Galloway method of running.  In other terms, we run in intervals.  Typically 3/1 which means we run for 3 minutes and then walk for 1.  You might think that slows down the overall pace but it doesn't.  During the walk breaks, your body is able to rest the muscles it uses for running.  It makes running long distances tolerable and you are less likely to get injured post run. 

I had a blast running with these two women!  They certainly made 10 miles breeze by!  There were a few times during the run that I started getting pain in my right hip and right knee but I ran through the pain.  It wasn't awful and by now I know the difference between pain from discomfort and pain that is more serious.  We were definitely on target for making it back to the waterfront within two hours!  Woohoo!

By the time we made it back, we were about 5 minutes late but only because we started after our goal time of 7 am.  Here is where I made my mistake.....we were meeting up with the 5k runners for the final 3.1 of the run but they weren't quite ready when we got there.  I wanted to shed some clothes and put my tutu on.  This was the wrong choice.  During the few minutes it took to take off my head lamp, headband and to put on my tutu my muscles got cold.  And of course since my muscles were cold and I wasn't stretching, I started getting sore.  This was BAD.  We started back up and I was moving extremely slower than I had been.  Not just a little slower, but a LOT slower.  All those little aches and pains I had been running through earlier all caught up with me in those final 3.  I managed to keep my running pace close to the same as earlier but my walking pace was greatly slower.

But I continued on and ran through it!  I felt bad because I was holding Sara and Syri back, they were great to stick with me.  We got back to the waterfront (finally) and I stretched out while we waited for the rest of the runners to come back.  The best part of the run was meeting 3 new women in the Kitsap chapter of MRTT.  And the Panera we had after as a treat :)

Overall the race was good.  We finished in 2:50:42, which was a new PR for me!  I wish I had been able to power through and run a little faster on the final 3 miles and get it done a little faster but I am still proud that I shaved another 6 minutes off of my record.  I am now one day out from the race and I am only mildly sore.  Nothing like the last half I ran in which I could barely walk for 3 days!!  I think I did so well because I had two amazing moms running along side of me and keeping me motivated.  They were awesome and inspiring and we chatted the entire time.  To me, that is a great day!

Red Kisses,

Krissy