Half Marathon Update

2nd half marathon = check

Well to begin, we got this notice upon check in.

Check out 2(a).  Yeah.  Seriously?!

So after a pretty good night's rest, I woke up at 5:00am to get dressed and head down to the Rec Center where check in was being held.  I passed on the bagels and cream cheese.  What an odd thing to serve just minutes before you run 13 miles?  Or at least I thought so.  Instead, I opted for a banana right when I woke up and some "goop" about 15 minutes before the race.  Bad decision.  The goop was disgusting.  I was feeling it miles 1-4.

After the pretty steep hill mile 3-4.5, it was mostly downhill the rest of the way.  The views were amazing.  My favorite part was a 3 mile trek along the "old highway" which was an old dirt/gravel packed road.  Switchbacks all the way down the mountain.  At the base of the mountain, we ran right next to a river and streams for another good mile or two.  The trees blessed us with some shade.  And we couldn't have asked for better weather.

Fortunately, there were no black bear encounters.  However, a mangy looking pit bull decided to run up to me, jump on me, and run with me a few yards around mile 7.  I was absolutely terrified!  All I could think about was how he was going to bite me and how inconvenient that was going to be.  Ha.  The woman I was running with also flipped out.  She basically just grabbed hold of me and started screaming.  Somehow, I remained calm and told the dog "nooo" in my awesome-dog-parenting voice.  It worked.  He backed off.  Praise Jesus.

6 miles later I was done.

So all in all, the race went really well.  A few minor aches and pains here and there, but nothing major.

J and I spent the rest of the morning walking around the little town of Black Mountain.  We meandered through their "tailgate market" which consisted of a bunch of craft tents ranging from wood working, pottery, jewelry, etc.  Had lunch at a great little local restaurant that had some of the best grits and apple butter I'd ever had.  I opted for the carb veggie plate:  grits, herb roasted potatoes, and a watermelon, canelope, and mint salad.  It tasted like summer, and it inspired me to stop by the farmers market to pick up a mint plant once we got back home.  Plus, they served me water in a mason jar.  Yes please.

I'll probably try to sign up for this race again next year.  I think the downhill-ness has spoiled me.  :)

The Downhill @ Dawn

So I have my second half marathon this Saturday morning.  I'm feeling a little nervous about it.

My first half was the infamous Thanksgiving Day Half Marathon in Atlanta, Georgia two years ago.  I was a full time graduate student and part time waitress, so I had plenty of time to train during the months leading up to it.  Race day was freezing cold.  But then after mile 7 or so, you start to get a little toasty.  :)

I found a great 12-week training schedule by Hal Higdon.  You can find it here.  I like it because it gave you a day of rest, easy workouts to offset the harder workouts, and focused on cross-training, stretching, and strengthening as well as running.  I stuck to it pretty religiously except for the week before when I came down with a serious upper respiratory infection.  Despite the setback, race day was fine.

And ever since I crossed that finish line, I knew I wanted to run another one.  And soon.

Well, it turns out that training for the race had taken a toll on my hips and pelvic region.  I was all out of whack.  A muscle near my hip had started hurting about a week or so before the race, and I just tried to push through it.  Thinking that it was just a strain or something.  Turns out it was much more serious than I had thought.

After several chiropractic visits and x-rays, I was out of commission for a while.  Then after moving up to Charlotte, I found an amaaazing chiropractic office, LifeSpring Chiropractic.  After more x-rays, a consultation, and $$, they had me back and running a few weeks after starting.  What relief to not feel any pain when I ran!

So here I am.  Two days before the next race.  And nervous.

Due to some work related stress, moving, and some minor aches and pains, my past few weeks of training hasn't been all too great.  I signed up for this race about 9 weeks in advance, and thus found an 8-week training program that seemed to fit my schedule.  You can find it here, the "beginner" one.  This plan had two days of rest scheduled each week, with 3 days of running and 2 days of cross training.  With the busy teacher lifestyle, the early mornings, and evening commitments, this was a pretty good fit.

The biggest challenge I faced this time around was getting motivated to exercise after working all day.  Tell ya what... waking up at 5:30am, dealing with cool and not-so-cool high school teenagers allll day long, and then the heat of the summer creeping in... my body wasn't all too excited about exercising.  Thus why I'm nervous.

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The race this weekend is the Downhill @ Dawn Half Marathon in Ridgecrest, NC (Black Mountain area).  It's just outside of Asheville, and thankfully starts at 6:01am (sunrise).  Which translates into much cooler weather.  Hopefully.  Fingers crossed.

The race is technically a "downhill" race -- just meaning that there is an overall drop in elevation.  There are still a few miles of hills worked into the course, but I've been promised that the majority of it is flat or mostly downhill.  Starting up the mountain and finishing in the little town.

It's being hosted by Ridgecrest Conference Center, a Christian retreat center nestled in the North Carolina mountains.  The views on the course should be pretty sweet... with wooded mountain roads/trails, streams, rivers, and deer sightings.  Very different from the downtown Atlanta road race.

So wish me luck!  And in case you are interested, here are a few items that I cannot run without:

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My Camelback waist pack.  Water every mile.    

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My Wave Inspire 7 Mizouno's.  (I've been running in Asics for the past 6 years, until I put these on my feet).

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Jelly Belly's Sport Beans.  These are easy to eat "on the run" and I can really feel a boost of energy 10 minutes later.  I prefer the assorted flavor pack... just to keep things interesting.

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And my iPod shuffle my hubby got me for Valentine's Day this year. 

Stay tuned for a post-run follow up!