RNR USA Half Marathon
| March 14, 2013 | Posted by Emily under Uncategorized |
This week has been one of the most hilariously ridiculous and stressful weeks of my life. And it’s only Thursday morning. Lucky for you guys, most of it has nothing to do with running so I’m going to spare you the gruesome details. YOU’RE WELCOME.
Plus, you know, the internet never forgets. Clearly, sometimes I choose to ignore this fact and over-share over the world wide web, but sometimes, like this time, that makes me actually stop myself and save the dirty details for an IRL friend and a stiff vodka drink. Which probably means there well be a tell-all blog post up around 11pm. Stay tuned.
Until then, let’s talk about happy stuff and safe stuff and stuff that doesn’t make me want to hide in a cave with all 10 seasons of Friends and a case of this for the rest of the month.
Stuff like running. And racing.
As much as I’ve loved getting back into racing after a few months away from the sport, I really don’t love these short distance races that I’ve been filling my weekends with.
Photo courtesy of Dash.
I’m pretty sure the feeling I get when registering for a 5k is not that dissimilar from how the Biggest Loser contestants must surely feel when Bob and Jillian shove a bowl of grapes at them and call it “dessert”. Like, points for effort B-Meister and J-Dawg, this tastes good and all but this is NOT the same as a gooey hot brownie drowning in ice cream and fudge. Try again.
I appreciate that my last several weekends have been full of bibs and aid stations and a chorus of garmins all beeping as the gun goes off…but I’ve been majorly jonesing for a race distance with double digit mileage and a course that takes longer than an hour to run. I’m happy I made the decision to train for a marathon PR, but I’ve had more than a few moments when I really miss ultra training.
These moments may or may not have led me to spend some recent weekends (unsuccessfully) promising my entire collection of Hokas and Oiselle to race directors in exchange for a spot in some sold out marathons/ultras.
I guess it’s good that I still own all of my running shoes and clothes, but the itch to race long is still way there and I’m still desperately wanting to scratch it.
Big sigh.
This weekend, I won’t be fully satisfying my craving, but I will get the chance to run something a littlebit more enjoyable at the Rock ‘n’ Roll USA Half Marathon.
It’s no marathon, but it’s also no 5k, so I’ll take it.
Back when I signed up for RNR USA, it felt really far away. Like, far enough into the future that I could easily be in shape to get a pretty sweet 13.1 PR on the streets of DC. I believe there was also a fleeting moment of total delusion when I thought about going for a marathon PR here.
Now that it’s less than 2 days away, I’m not really feeling like I’m ready to try for a terribly impressive PR. I’m 5 weeks into marathon training, which is great, and yay for not being on the couch with a bitch rib anymore, but 5 weeks is maybe not enough of a foundation to set me up to be gunning for any crazy records.
Which is fine. I’ve got a different race on my schedule in a few weeks that I hope will deliver a little more magic in the form of a half marathon PR.
<3 Hayward
So for this early season half, I’ve got some other plans in mind.
Plan #1-I’m not going to race-race this thing.
Plan #2-I want to run it as a long training run with approximately 13.1 faster miles.
Plan #3-I still want to PR.
Greedy, I know.
But here’s the thing: my current half marathon PR of 1:32.15 happens to be tied with my split from the back half of the Eugene Marathon last April.
My current half marathon PR of 1:32.15 is also 2 minutes and 16 seconds slower than my marathon goal pace. Which is probably not really all that ideal. And probably also means I should be able to run a PR even if I’m not race-racing.
Right?
If not, it’s safe to assume that I’ll be logging onto Ultra Signup and dusting off my camelbak after the race.
I thought about switching to the full or using this race for 13 miles of a long run jog. But I knew either of these things would be motivated by a fear that I’m not in shape to run a PR during a 13.1 mile training run and everyone will know it thanks to smart phones and online race results.
And the reality is that that very much might be the case. But a good friend convinced me to go for it, and if it doesn’t happen, use my disappointment to fuel my next 10 weeks of marathon training.
Which made sense to me. I know my race fitness is not where I want it to be, but I also know I’ve got another 2.5 months to get it there. (Which honestly makes race day sound scary soon, but let’s not talk about that).
No matter what my time is, I’m pumped that everyone and their running partner is also registered for this race. Let me know if you’ll be one of the thousands out on the new and questionably improved course (let’s also not talk about that and what it means for the presence of hills).
Funny you mention the presence of hills. When I first saw the course change I was like huh? My husband commented that the organizers must not live here… anyways at least Calvert is early on, I’m afraid those not prepared will be dropping like flies, however Columbia will feel like nothing afterwards (I keep telling myself).
WHAT?!?! There are hills at Eugene now!?! Thank god someone finally told me, so I can start adding a few into my long runs!! Luckily, I live in Seattle and that shouldn’t be too hard to do. Actually, in Seattle, finding flats is harder than hills.
1. Good luck! You will rock out this half.
2. I am thinking about doing VCM again someday just to have an excuse to pick up another supply of Heady Topper.
Wait, I’m confused. Course change and introduction of more hills in the RnR half or the Eugene course!?!?
More importantly, good luck this weekend! Just take it mile by mile, have fun, and PR the pants off of it!
I will be out there volunteering but wish you the best! I also would love to personally invite you to Join the DC Metro Area Running Bloggers.
http://www.meetup.com/DC-Metro-Area-Running-Bloggers/
I’m doing the Half on Saturday, too! Me, you, and 30,000 other friends. And yes, I’m not thrilled about the hills, but I think training on all of those evil hills in the NW has helped a ton…hopefully I’m ready to tackle them and not die. Good luck!
Good luck! I’ll be channeling sweaty Emily vibes as I’ll be running a half looking for a PR at the same time! I’ll just be thinking about how much slower I’m running than you and hope that kicks my ass into gear.
I am running this weekend too! its my first half and I was wondering if you had an suggestions as to what to wear. I dont really ever run in the rain, and have never raced anything longer than a 10K so Im a bit nervous and this impending rain is making me second guess my choice in gear. Any suggestions?
Sorry I didn’t catch this before the race! How did it go? No rain!
Good luck this weekend!!!
I can’t wait for the half tomorrow! I was gunning for a PR until I actually looked at the course elevation. Miles 4-7 are going to be rough!
How did it go? Mile 6 was the death of me. It was hillier than I expected for sure.
Good luck on your half! I bet you will hit a PR!!
Eugene sounds like a blast too and it sounds like your training is going really well.
I am doing VCM too and can’t wait to check it out! Enjoy all your races!
VCM is the best race in the world. You will LOVE it and have a great run no matter what! How is training going? It seems so far away yet also a little terrifyingly soon!
Good luck at the race!!! Go get that PR!
Predicting 1:31:40 this weekend (because that’s straight up 7 min pace) and sub 1:28 in Eugene. Hoka magic. Fly.
Have a great race! I’ll be out there too this gloomy morning. Wishing it was the weather of last year for this race, but oh well. I guess spring isn’t just ready to start. Good luck with the timing!
I hope you had a great race! ( I bet you rocked it)
You think too much and over-analyse!!!! Just get outta the door and run! Hehehehe. At least you’ve the chance to run – sorry, pity party here – was diagnosed with a stress fracture over the weekend.
Oh no, so sorry to hear! Heal super fast. You’ll come back stronger, promise!
well, we got lucky with the weather but it was freakin’ hilly!! curious to hear how things went. i happily paced a friend for the 1st half of his marathon and used it as a training run… though i had my own unique challenge to contend with ;)