Philly Half Recap

The week before big races, I normally get this intense wave of competiveness come over me. Not surprising as I've always been an athlete, and I've always loved competition. But as a runner, I've found it hard to harness and direct my competitiveness.

let's just say I have way more leg muscles than arm muscles

I find myself talking sh*t in my head to myself, about how I'm going to dominate the course, so on and so forth, and often feel stupid afterwards... as it is after all, a course... a route through paved streets... a thing, not a person. Does it make sense to be competitive with a thing?

So then I find myself getting all worked up over the other females I'll be racing against. Every woman that I saw at our hotel I assumed to be an enemy, and much faster than myself. But really, enemy isn't the right wording, and certainly isn't true. Because the other women I'm racing against are just as much my fellow comrades, running the same race that I am.

at the expo

I realized this when I crossed the finish line neck and neck with a girl who I had stayed with almost the entire 13.1... and she immediately turned around, shook my hand and congratulated me on a race well run.

And that it was:

for the record, that's also a 10k PR

My goal was to PR. I managed that by about 4 minutes. My in-the-moment race goal come mile 5 or 6 was to continue holding the absurd sub-7 minute pace that I've never managed to hold for more than a couple miles in a row.

Check.

I still don't know how I managed such a solid race, I'm serious. This is coming from the girl who can't hold a pace to save her life.

 Let's just say that the stars aligned.

The course was as flat as flat comes... flatter than my chest, excuse the term. The weather was the definition of perfect.

6 AM, race day. 55 degrees.

And of course, I have to give credit to my boy. Race morning for me is typically one of extreme nerves, and racing thoughts. But with Andrew cracking jokes almost the entire walk to the starting line, I didn't really have time to give the race much of a thought...

Me: "So what's your goal for the race?"
Andrew: "To win the first mile. And then find someone to draft off of for the next 12."

gotta love him.

In all seriousness, I have to give him mad props for killing his first ever half marathon, coming in at 1:52. For the low amount of miles that he trained, I was super impressed. And even more pumped that he enjoyed it.

However, I have a sneaking suspicion he may have enjoyed the decadent, authentic Philly Chessesteak that we had post-race even more. I may have too. It was pretty amazing.

no words.

All in all, Philadelphia treated us well. And I walked away from the race realizing that it isn't necessarily the race, or the people in the race who I am competing against... that really it's myself. Every day, no matter what form my workout takes, I'm competing against myself and pushing my own limits, with a strong healthy body that I am super blessed to have.

Anyone else race this weekend? Or even better... has anyone else ever had a REAL Philly Cheesesteak? Those things are mind blowing.

Hope your Monday treated you well, cheers!

Learning to be a running buddy

Today marks my 50^th blog post – party time!

Yes, unfortunately that is a glow-stick in my mouth.

I have to admit, I've never really been a ‘running partner’ kind of person. Honestly I can think of a handful of times I have gone on longer runs with other people. It may be that I’m semi self-conscious of my noisy clicking ankles… along with the fact that I have kind of evolved to see running as my own time.

Riding solo in Boston - via MarathonFoto

However, a conversation that I had last weekend with Andrew has me thinking I should probably become more open to the idea of a running buddy.

As we stood at the edge of the ocean at Rehoboth, here’s what went down:

Me: "Generic complaint about the freezing cold water."

Andrew: "You know, the Navy Seals would do this every morning before the sun was even up.” – proceeds to jump into the ocean.

Me: Continues to stand on the shore with arms crossed.

Andrew: "Come in, it really isn't that bad!"

Me: “I'll come in eventually, I just don't want to right now.”

Andrew: With a smirk… "O.K., yeah... and I'll sign up for a Half Marathon eventually too."

Me: Jumps in ocean. Resurfaces, and gasps, "I'm signing us up this week."

Source

And so I did just that. Word on the street is that the Philadelphia Rock ‘n Roll is flat… and it will be a beautiful city for 13.1. Particularly for Andrew’s first. My hopes are that temps won't be too warm by mid-September when the race rolls around.

 13.1 is one of my favorite distances to run. And I would love for Andrew to fall in love with the sport as well. This is how I arrived to my above realization that if I’m going to sign him up for a distance that he’s never run before, that I should probably be more open to the idea of training with him.

However, I will note that I still have every intention of beating him in the actual race. (Nothing like some good healthy competition)

Anyone else have issues with running with others/groups? Just me?

Here’s to some miles next to my best friend. And here's to the weekend! 

Cheers!