Carrabba's San Antonio Half Marathon Recap

I woke up race morning thinking the usual, "Why am I doing this?" You'd think by now, after 9 marathons and 14 half marathons, I'd quit asking myself that. Obviously I know the answer to that question, but the noise of the 6:00AM alarm clock always has a way of fogging my memory.

Nothing ever sounds good to me this early in the morning except going back to sleep, but all it took was one bite of my favorite breakfast (to-go style), and my appetite woke right up. I wasn't sure if yogurt was a good thing to eat before a half marathon in the Texas heat, but I didn't really care. I figured if I didn't have a good race, at least I would have a good breakfast. :)

As I was wiping the sweat off my head before I had even finished mile 1, I thought to myself, "This is going to be the worst race ever." I realized my attitude needed some serious re-adjusting, so I decided to quit worrying about my time, pace, place, etc. Instead, I decided to view the race as a long run and focus on maintaining a comfortably hard pace. 

Once I did that I started feeling much better, not only in my head, but my body as well. My first two miles were probably the slowest of the 13. I gradually picked up the pace as the race went on, and ended up running negative splits. This taught me a HUGE running lesson, one I already knew but needed reminding of. Negative splits are the way to go. I've known this since my very first marathon, but the more races I did, the more time-focused I became, and the less willing I was to slow down in the beginning. Here's an article from Runner's World about why and how you can be a better runner by running negative splits. 

I guess I thought panting like a dog would cool me down? 

Towards the end of the race I was taking two waters from the water stations, one for my mouth, and one for my head. It was seriously hot and humid. I don't know what the exact temperature was, but I'm sure it was in the 90's because it got to be 104 that day. 

Normally I'm feeling so crappy by the end of a long race that my hobble to the finish line can barely be considered running. This picture will be a reminder to me that my goal for every race from here on out will be to run negative splits. I want to feel good enough at the end of the race to sprint past the two guys within sight in front of me, and I want to look like I'm actually running in, not like Quasimodo like I usually do. 

I didn't get my best time, it was actually 10 minutes slower than my best time, but I was really happy with a 1:45 because I had no intentions of even coming close to running my best time. My overall pace ended up being 8:05, even though my first few miles were around 8:20 to 8:40 pace. Next time I run a race I'll remind myself that starting out slower than goal pace does not mean I'm wasting time. It just means I'll be able to run faster at the end of the race and still feel good. 

I love having these two faces to look forward to seeing during and after my races. It gets me through the crappy parts of the race.  

 Don't worry, that's not all sweat, only about 50% of it is. :) I didn't even think twice before I dumped two cups of cold water on my head the second I crossed the finish line, which is why I no longer have a working cell phone. :( Next time I run this race I will (1.) Bring a towel for the car ride home, and (2.) Wrap my phone in three plastic bags, or don't bring it. 

Chicken marsala from Carrabbas. Post-race food doesn't get better than that!

Watching mom run is exhausting. 

Right before I left for the starting line he said, "Go momma go." with the cutest little two-year-old voice ever. It made my day. I looked forward to seeing the huge smile on his face every three miles during the race. (The race is four 3-ish mile loops, so I passed the same spot 4 times.)

I was surprised to find out that I got third in the females on Monday morning when I looked up the race results. Normally a 1:45 puts you in the middle somewhere, but the heat of this race steers most people towards the relay rather than the full half marathon. (There were only about 120 females that did the full half marathon.)

Anyway, I know this was a long post, so here's a three point summary of my race learnings:

1. Good race-day breakfast= rice cakes, fruit, and yogurt.

2. Good racing strategy= negative splits.

3. Good phone care= Don't bring it if there's even the slightest chance it will get wet. (This was the second phone I've ruined from running in less than 5 months.)

What's the best post-race food you've ever had?

What's your favorite pre-workout meal?