Tuesday, September 9, 2014

Half Marathon #5 Recap: Lehigh Valley/VIA Half Marathon

Well, this pretty much sums up my weekend:



My heart was so so full after the past few days.  The race went really well for both my sister and me, I ate countless vegan treats, I saw two of my very best friends, AND I got a new niece!  How does one person even deserve all this goodness?!  I don't know but I'm thanking my lucky stars. 

First up, race recap. 

Weather:  Our prayers were answered because the weather did a complete 180 from Saturday to Sunday, so thank you to everyone who sent up silent little intentions for us!  Sunday in PA was HOT, hot, hot, and extremely humid.  In fact, dozens of runners were treated for heat illness at Saturday's Bird-in-Hand Half Marathon in Lancaster on Saturday.  My thoughts were definitely with everyone participating in the race that day as I knew how difficult and dangerous the weather was.  My sister and I were understandably pretty apprehensive about the weather for the following morning, but by some stroke of incredible luck (the Universe looking out for us!), a strong front of thunderstorms rolled in late Saturday night and cooled things off.  When we got up Sunday morning the temps were in the 60's!  The humidity was still really high (85%) at the start of the race, but the cooler temps were incredible. 

Pre-race fuel:  My sister decided to sleep over my parents' house the night before since the race was early (7am) and their house was closer to the starting line.  This means I lucked out in the food department, because she cooked us a delicious spaghetti and meatball dinner from scratch!  It certainly beats the jar of Prego sauce I usually eat on my pasta the night before a race (I am the worst Italian ever).  I also stopped by Vegan Treats while I was home and had some Speculoos (ie. "cookie butter") and Brownie Batter vegan soft serve.  Probably the most incredible combo in the entire world.  I really wish you could taste this through the screen because it was beyond perfect.


Race day morning I had a plain untoasted blueberry bagel, a bottle of water and 1/2 bottle of Gatorade. 

Me and my sis pre-race.  AKA 6am.


The race:  Race start was early at 7am, but I'm thankful for this because the day did end up getting pretty hot by the afternoon.  The only pre-race glitch I experienced was that I hit the start on my Garmin a bit late and it took FORever to find a signal.  This is something I've experienced off and on with my Forerunner 10.  Sometimes it searches and searches and gets stuck and I have to start the process over again.  Annnnnnnnd this is what happened at the start of the race!  Anyone else ever have this issue with this watch?  So I have no idea how many minutes into the race it finally found the signal and started tracking (4 mins? 5 mins?) but that kind of threw me off the first mile or so. At least I was still getting splits but they weren't at race mile markers.  My first mile pace was 9:27 and the rest were all between 9:21 and 9:01 except the last three miles which ranged between 8:45 and 8:51.  So I did a pretty good job of negative splitting. 

The course was absolutely BEAUTIFUL!  It was mostly what I would consider a trail race because we were running on a dirt/gravel path along the river for almost the entire thing.  Much much different than the road races I usually run.  The surroundings were serene and shaded and I loved it.  Also, the surface was much more forgiving on your legs.  It was only at the end of the race when we got back on the concrete and asphalt that I noticed how much harder it felt on my legs.  (Note to self:  Need to find more trails to run on.) 

I felt really really good the entire race, which is both a good and a bad thing.  Good because I felt strong and had no pain or breathing issues, but bad because I think I was 'too comfortable'.  At the end of every race, I always say 'I could've gone faster'.  Any why don't I?  Simply put, because I don't like being uncomfortable.  I feel like I don't ever push myself hard enough in a race situation.  Sarah recently wrote a post on getting comfortable with being uncomfortable.  In order to see results (in running, life, or any endeavor), you can't stay in your comfort zone.  It doesn't work that way.  But this is often what most of us do.  When I'm running, if I start pushing and start feeling a bit uncomfortable, I always pull back.  I think I'm afraid that I won't finish or I'll burn out if I push too hard, but ultimately, I end up psyching myself out.  If I don't push, my race times won't improve.  This unfortunately is how I often approach life situations.  I feel like I push myself just to the brink of being uncomfortable and then pull back.  Afraid of failure.  Afraid that I won't make it and so to save face, I just stay where I'm comfortable.  No bueno Jilly.  Ain't nobody got time for that kind of behavior.  Time for me to start getting more comfortable with being uncomfortable in ALL situations or I'll never reach my full potential.

Results:  Official finish 1:59.  Squeaked in just under 2 hours!  Yeehaw!  My PR is 1:58 but that was for a MUCH hillier course at the Runner's World Half last year.  So I conceivably should have run this flat course much faster.  I think the warmer temps of this race compared to that one and my shorter training cycle played a part, but I also know I could have pushed my pace a bit harder. 

Other result info:  Overall finish - 362nd of 1,001.  Female finish - 163rd of 628.  Age group finish (35-39) - 31st of 104. 

My sis had a HUGE PR and finished 9 mins faster than her first half marathon! Whoo hooo!



Other notes:  I have had NO SHIN PAIN this entire training cycle!  If you know my history, you know how long I've fought with my recurring shin splints.  I've tried so many things through the years, but I think the Spenco insoles I got from Charm City Run may have finally solved the problem.  I don't know why no one ever recommended I try insoles for my hella high arches before but once again I am thanking my lucky stars that the staff at Charm City finally helped me.  This was the first half marathon I was able to run sans compression sleeves and it felt incredible to have NAKED legs this time around!

I didn't think the weekend could get any better, but later that afternoon my mom called from Atlanta to tell us that my sister had the baby!  I now have a brand new beautiful niece.  Meet our family's newest little slice of heaven:



When I got back to Baltimore late Sunday, I was almost overcome with feelings of warmth and goodness.  Everything just came together this weekend and there were so many unexpected blessings, small and large.  Sometimes I get down on myself about the things I don't have or haven't accomplished so far in my life (hey, I'm human), but then there are days like these when I realize how fortunate I really am.  A day with running, a new baby and vegan treats honestly felt like winning the lottery.  LIFE IS GOOD my friends!


**If you haven't entered my AMRAP Protein Bar Giveaway hop on over there!  Three winners will be chosen on Thursday!



How was your weekend?!

Any races?

What are you thankful for these days?

14 comments:

  1. What an incredible weekend! That is going to be hard to top! So glad that you got to experience everything and all at once. And oh my stars, your niece is gorgeous! I am thankful, just like you, for the people that fill my life, for old friends, and for every mile my legs give me!

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    1. Thank you Susie! Yes this weekend was just love love love all around! Just made me feel so thankful.

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  2. Congrats on your half AND your newest addition to the family.

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    1. Thank you Jenny! I obvs love babies since its my profession now, but they are really a blessing!!

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  3. Woooooo way to go!!!! I should probably take a lesson from myself in learning to be uncomfortable with running. I'm not very good at that part. I'm glad you had a good time running with family and that life just clicked for you. That is the best feeling ever :)

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    1. Ha thank you Sarah! I think you do take your own advice. It seems like you push yourself a lot in training and races plus YOU"RE SO SPEEDY! I do love great weekends with family and friends. I love feeling the love!

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  4. YAY! So much goodness in just one weekend!

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    1. Thank you!! While I was running you were having your first eHarmony date ever. How can my weekend even begin to top that momentous occasion?!

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  5. Congrats on a sub-2! That's always reason to get excited. :)

    I didn't know you were Italian. Now I find it funny that you say you don't like confrontation. lol Not to stereotype or anything, but I've never known an Italian woman who didn't speak her mind! ;)

    Right now I'm thankful for fall beer lines coming out. haha And cooler running weather! Fall is gonna fall hard in West TN this week! 90 tomorrow then 70s as far as the forecast goes. :)

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    1. Thanks Pam! I was hoping to be a bit faster but I think I kinda took it easy. More like a Sunday long run, rather than a race!
      Ahh, yes, I am indeed half Italian (from my mom). But I'm definitely not your typical Jersey-esque loud type! hahaha My family is big and some are louder than others. I'm not sure how my personality worked out to be the quiet peacemaker type?!

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  6. That race sounds awesome! I grew up near there (Reading) and I totally should have run that while I lived there! I need more non-road races in my life.

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    1. Hi Kristen! Oh I have some cousins in Reading! What a small world. Where do you live now? I really did love the course. I never run on anything but roads and this course was so much easier on my legs.

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  7. Belated congrats! I was actually at that really hot Bird-in-Hand Half. It was brutal. I found this post because I was looking to see how the Lehigh Valley Via Half was; I'm looking for an early fall half.

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    1. Bravo to you for running the race in that heat! It was actually really dangerous out there! I LOVED the Via Half course so much. It was on the towpath which runs alongside the canal/creek in Bethlehem and Easton. It was almost exclusively flat as well, except at the end (go figure!). I would def recommend it and I want to run it again.

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