Pre-Race
After a late night at the Sox game, we got a late start heading toward Providence. We made a quick shopping trip to the Wrentham outlets (helloooo vacation clothes!), we headed to Providence. We settled into the Marriott downtown, then Shelley, her mom and I head to the Expo!
We picked up our bibs, then headed for merchandise and vendors. Unfortunately after picking out some official race gear, we heard the expo was closing at 5. Whoops!! We thought it closed at 6, so we had to rush to finish and get through all the booths. It certainly didn't stop me from spending, yikes! I spent a ton!
Official race gear- Rock Providence Hoodie & Rock N Roll black tank, the NEW Moving comfort Rebound Racer, a new pink sweaty band, a live.love.run. bracelet from Gone for a Run, Race hat (not pictured here) from Gone for a Run, Running Skirts Mums Pinkalicious running skirt, Raw Threads Rock Star Half Marathon shirt (not pictured).
We were in such a rush, we didn't even have time to take silly pictures. I felt rushed through all the booths, which maybe was a good thing to keep me from buying more, or a bad thing to keep me from thinking rationally as my credit card racked it up.
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| New outfit! <3 |
After the expo, we walked back to the hotel, making sure to scope out the race start setup. Corrals, bathrooms, stage, beer tent. We hit Fire & Ice for dinner. It reminded me of my college stir-fry station where you picked anything you want and had them grill it up in front of you. Bonus? I got to be picky, and my meal was a million times better than the Crazy Lobster in New Orleans.
Early to bed with the race gear all laid out. The forecast was rain, rain, rain for race day. I crossed my fingers that they rain would hold off until afternoon. Oh by the way, Shelley told me Saturday instead of 2:20, she wanted to try for 2:15. What??!! Unbelievable! "We only have to hit a 10:30 pace, let's try." What the hell, I agreed!
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| Running Skirts Pink Princess Skirt, Under Armour Tank, Pink CEP socks, Gone for a Run hat. |
Race Day
After waking up, I peeked my head out the window to see rain. LOTS of rain. YUCK. I got dressed and had my pre-race bread with peanut butter & banana. I txt'd Shelley to make sure she was up and to hear about the rain. Filled my Nuun and water bottles, got my Honey Stinger chews & stashed a waffle in my pouch. Shelley and I went to the hotel lobby, and instantly I thought "DAMN, I forgot the trash bags!" Luckily the front desk had a couple extra.
We walked down to the race start, and waited, and waited. I wish we had stayed in a little longer at the hotel, but I always get nervous about not being to a race on time. We waited, and waited, hiding under a tree, until heading to our corrals.
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| wet, but ready to go! |
The race got started a little late, but soon we were on our way, aiming for 10:30 miles, dreading the hills we knew were ahead of us, and focusing on our breathing, and keeping our energy up. We started with a decent hill, which was thankfully followed by a nice downhill.
Mile 1 10:10
A little fast, but we were feeling good. Mile 2-5 were killer hills. We met a girl from Groton, CT who was aiming for a 2:15 as well, and asked if she could tag along. We talked about races and slogged up the hills, and killed the downhills to try to keep our paces up. We were feeling strong and calm. Our pace felt easy to us, crazy for how slowly we've been doing our long runs. At one really big hill we saw one of the wheelchair racers taking on the hill using his legs to push up the hill backwards, since he didn't have use of his arms. So amazing and inspiring.
mile 2 10:35
mile 3 10:20
mile 4 10:28
mile 5 10:41
The rain got heavier at times, but felt great to keep cool. Every now and then, we got a tease of a cool breeze which helped us feel refreshed to stay on track. At the water stop a little after mile 5, there was a sign that read "Next hill at 7.8 miles." That was heaven to hear! Especially with the downhills that followed. There were tons of HUGE puddles, and water logged streets. We had to be careful not to slip on the downhills. We stayed consistent and pretty much on target, feeling good the entire time.
mile 6 10:25
mile 7 10:26
mile 8 10:36
Problem was, that at mile 7.8, the hills were ROUGH.
mile 9 11:00
mile 10 10:41
Our pace slowed a little, they were starting to get to me. I was looking forward to seeing Kevin, my mom, sister & Shelley's mom at the 11 mile marker. They were no where to be found. I started losing steam at this point. Not seeing family threw me for a loop, I was counting on their positive energy! We finally caught them at mile 12.
mile 11 10:37
mile 12 10:41
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| Kevin caught one shot of me! |
At that point, Shelley started sprinting to her mom and I couldn't keep up. I started to really feel it. My arms were sore, my quads were killing me, and my breathing felt rough. I tried to focus my breathing and stay in tune for a strong finish.
mile 13 10:28
An uphill finish, how cruel!! I had to stop for a minute until a guy yelled at me that alls I had was a 100 yard dash left, I picked it up, then glanced at my watch. YIKES! My 2:20 goal was almost passing, 2:19 on the Garmin, I sprinted as fast as I could, and just barely squeaked in!
Overall Stats
Pace 10:40
5K 32:22
10K 1:05:13
10 mile 1:46:17
12 mile 2:07:58
HALF MARATHON 2:19:44
overall 3454/5756
Division 483/803
Gender 1848/3579
OH YES! PR by over 5 minutes from Rock N Roll Mardi Gras!!
After crossing the finish, Shelley was waiting for me, she finished 42 seconds ahead of me. We got our soggy, post race pics taken, grabbed some food and went to find our families. I hit the med tent to get some ice for my knee which was a little sore, but overall I was feeling good.
I grabbed my free beer, and shortly after everyone but Kevin and I left because of the rain. I was soaked already, I didn't care! Kevin and I listened to a little Sugar Ray...
Then hit Panera for my post race breakfast. I wasn't hungry at all following the race, but an hour or so later, I was craving my Panera!
After that, we headed back to the hotel in the rain. The only downside was the weather for the post-party!
Overall it was a fun race! Very organized, LOTS of post race food, fabulous medal, and a PR on a challenging course doesn't hurt either! I'm feeling sore, but nothing like my previous half marathons. Could it be that I'm finally getting used to this distance?
Next half.... Divas Half Marathon in Long Island, NY!
