River Valley Half Marathon Recap

Yesterday after work Kyle and I drove an hour to Fort Smith, AR to pick up our race packets. We were pretty psyched about having cool shirts for once.

The race didn’t start until 9am so we didn’t have to wake up too early. I still got everything ready the night before.

What I took:

Under Armour Capris – these were a Christmas gift from Kyle last year and they are my absolute favorite pants to run in. They were perfect for today since it was pretty cold. 

Nike Sports Bra

GAP pink T

Belt – with tissues, chocolate and vanilla GUs

IPod

Garmin 

I was pretty excited so I was up early for coffee, breakfast and self portraits.

By 7:00 we were out the door and made the drive to Fort Smith.

Once we got there I was instantly nervous. I realized that this race wasn’t just a small one, but a REALLY small one. The more people, the more likely you are to NOT be the last one finished and there were not a lot of runners, not a lot at all. Some of the few who were there, were not all Half Marathon runners. Some were 10K and 5K runners.  I was so nervous that I used the porta-potties twice and couldn’t even stomach the idea of eating the SojJoy bar in my purse.

Just as the Half Marathon runners were lining up the start, we were given an update on a course change. I could barely hear/understand the man making the announcement so when we started I relied on the people running ahead of me to be going in the right direction.

My plan was to mentally separate the race into three different parts, with a goal for each.

First 5 – I wanted to run in an hour. I did it in 56.02.

These miles went by the fastest. By mile 3 I could feel my stomach growling which surprised me because I never feel hungry when I run. I took a GU at mile 5 and stopped at one water station. I also ditched my gloves and long sleeve shirt.

To the 10 – I wanted to hit 10 miles at 2 hours. When I got there it was 1:56.

Miles 5-10 were the hardest. Since the course was an out and back route, once I was at mile 6 some runners were already on their way BACK. The ones who passed me were very sweet and kept yelling things like “good job” to all of us “slow and steadies’” in the back. I mentioned to one group that they made me sick. Who runs that fast?

There were water stations every 3-4 miles which I thought was a lot. After mile 6 all water stations also had yellow gatorade, which I was loving.

The last three - Just finish/survive them. I did.

Finishing ten miles in a little less than 2 hours gave me a pretty big boost to keep going and finish strong. I wanted to beat my time from my first half marathon two years ago, which was 2:56.

My Garmin hit 13.1 miles at 2:38 minutes.

MUCH to my UNPLEASANT surprise the finish line was not even in sight. I rounded the next corner to finally see the finish WAY up ahead?? Crossing the finish line was not so exciting since my Garmin said 13.75 miles. Another runner told me afterwards that since they changed the course last minute (you know, those  last few minutes before we started) that it added more than a quarter of another mile to the race.

Garmin Time: 2:38

Since I trust my Garmin more than any man other than my husband I am HAPPILY taking 2:38 as my time. I’ll be anxious to see what the official results say when they come out.

The race was a GREAT experience and I’m glad it’s over.

The rest of the night will consist of a date with my husband, pizza and the Razorbacks.

WOO PIG SOOIE!

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