Monday, April 27, 2015

Get in Gear Half Recap

On Saturday, I ran the Get in Gear Half Marathon.  When I went to the packet pick-up, I was surprised to learn that it was the 38th annual race - that's got to be one of the longest standing races in the Twin Cities!

Before I delve into the recap, I'll cut to the chase - I managed to PR at this race by over 2 minutes!  My official time was 1:52:14.  I didn't go into this race expecting to 'race it' or PR it and I will definitely admit that it wasn't my smartest race, but you live and learn! Here's a recap!

The night before the race, Phil and I had a quiet night in.  We made roasted broccoli and this pasta recipe but skipped the mushrooms as someone (ahem, Phil) won't eat mushrooms. It was a simple, delicious recipe and one I'd definitely recommend. 


The race didn't start until 9 on Saturday so I got to wake up without an alarm on race morning, which is always nice.  I had my usual breakfast of oatmeal with banana and 2 cups of coffee and then headed out the door to take the lightrail to the race.  I'm so glad I could get there via public transportation!

I was kind of over dressed for this race but I don't like using bag drops and I didn't want to be cold waiting for the race to start!
The race course was along the Mississippi River so it was a pretty scenic route.  I would describe the course as rolling hills with 2 decent climbs/descents (which you can see below in the elevation profile).


Here are my splits:

Mile 1 - 8:30
Mile 2 - 8:11 (WAY too fast)
Mile 3 - 8:20
Mile 4 - 8:19
Mile 5 - 8:10 (WAY too fast again, but this mile was mostly downhill)
Mile 6 - 8:20
Mile 7 - 8:19
Mile 8 -  8:25

* This is the point where the pace I ran during the first part of the race started to catch up with me and my pace started to suffer.

Mile 9 - 8:37
Mile 10 - 8:40

* At this point, I knew that I would PR as long as I ran sub-10 minute miles, which I knew I could do.  I played a lot of mental games during the last 3 miles and told myself things like:  You just have to run 5k more!  Only 18 more minutes of discomfort!  Less than 9 minutes of discomfort!

Mile 11 - 8:32
Mile 12 - 8:50 (there was a big climb during this mile)
Mile 13 - 8:53
The rest - 8:40


I was SO happy to be done when I crossed the finish line.  I grabbed my medal and hobbled down to the area where they had the food, which was SO FAR from the finish line which I think is a poor decision for the race set-up...


I am very happy with my time, but I made a couple of big mistakes during this race.  First, I went out way too fast.  I shouldn't have been running 8:20 or faster miles in the beginning!  Second, I didn't eat anything during the race besides one cup of water and gatorade at each water stop.  They did have some gu's at around mile 10 but it was a brand I haven't had before and I didn't want to risk having GI issues in the final part of the course.  I know some people can do halves without any fuel besides water/gatorade, but I was reminded on Saturday that I am not one of those people.  I felt nauseated and had to force myself to eat afterwards, which is a telltale sign of not properly fueling.  Lesson learned - next time I will bring gu's.

I checked the race website for my final results when I got home for my results and was really happy with my stats!


But all in all, I'm very proud of my time and I am excited that I'll be going into marathon training with a great level of fitness!

19 comments:

Kelly (She Wears a Red Sox Cap) said...

Awesome job PRing! :) It had been so long since you did a half, you just needed to remind yourself of all that you need to do ha ha.
I'm so happy that running is going so well for you these days!

Jeanie said...

Lisa, I am so impressed! Three cheers for your half! I suppose it's good to learn those lessons early in the season. Mostly it makes me smile because a year or two ago it seemed like you might never do this again. Bravo!

Marlys said...

Sounds like a great run, except for the gu's you didn't have! I'm really proud of you!

Nora said...

Dude. YOU KILLED IT! So awesome :)

missris said...

Woohoo congrats on a PR! And I'm just like you--no way can I run that far without fuel :)

Stephany said...

Way to go on the race! That's an incredible time and you should feel so proud of yourself!

San said...

Good job, Lisa! I am so impressed! I am slowly getting a better pace and it's nice to see that consistency pays off but I am still ways away from a Half Marathon! You did great!

Anonymous said...

Atta girl! Proud of you. Congratulations!

Jolene - EverydayFoodie said...

Awesome!! A PR is fantastic!! I wish I liked running; I gave it a fair shot, but I just couldn't get into it.

That's too bad that Phil doesn't like mushrooms :-( They are so, so good!

Gracie said...

That must mean a lot to you to PR after dealing with RA and getting it under control! Good for you!

Jenny said...

Well done! And congratulations on your PR :)

Amber said...

Whooo! Very well done! I just think it's so amazing how you are coming back a stronger and faster runner than ever and I'm so proud of you! Way to rock your race.

Carolina John said...

Congrats on such a great race! I know that's a high that you can ride for a while. The last 5k of any race are supposed to be uncomfortable, sounds like you really dealt with the mental aspects very well. Great job!

Leigh said...

Congratulations on a great race and a new PR!

Abby said...

I am so proud of you!!! You kicked butt! Especially since you weren't really going in it to race it!!! Wow - you are a rockstar!!

That is so nice that the race started at 9am! Gives you enough time to pace out your morning, and eat breakfast!

I love the shirt you're wearing! My favorite part of winter running is long-sleeve-shirts. I don't know why, but I just love running in long sleeve shirts!?

I couldn't FIND the gu's in my last full marathon (afterwards I learned they were totally there, and I just overlooked them), and that was awful. I got super nauseated after. I don't normally take anything but water in a 13.1...but anything more than that - I need some fuel!

Elizabeth said...

Again, SOOOO impressed. You're incredible gal and it seriously had to have been so amazing to come back from everything and nail it with a new PR :) You continue to motivate and inspire me :)

Nilsa @ SoMi Speaks said...

So freaking cool that you PR'd this race. I mean, to think that just over a year ago, you weren't even running thanks to RA and now you're PR'ing. You've turned a little health crisis into something pretty darn remarkable, Lisa!

Emilie said...

Congratulations on an awesome race! Woohoo for PRs!!!! I am so proud of how far you have come in the last year or so. You are inspiring with everything you have overcome! The farthest I have ever run without fuel is 10 miles and it was rough. In my last two races I've gotten really nauseous and have struggled to take in fuel so I need to work on figuring that out.

Charis Faith said...

So so so awesome!!!! Congratulations!!!