1/2 Marathon in Review- 2 months late

I had actually written this post the week after completing the race, but apparently never posted- better late than never, right?  

I completed my second 1/2 marathon on Thanksgiving morning!  While I was hoping to do 2:05 or better, I did have PR by almost 2 minutes from my last run.

Carb loading:  Wednesday night Robert and I decided to go eat Mexican food instead of the "typical" pasta meal.  I figured I should be ok if I stuck to chicken tacos and didn't go crazy on the salsa, and of course passed on the beer!  My meal choice worked out well-I've read that you shouldn't eat anything you haven't done a long run on before.  With our frequent trips to Taxco and my running schedule lately, I was fairly certain I should be fine.

Morning meal:  Like my last 1/2, my pre-race meal was 2 pieces of bread with peanut butter and half of a powerade zero.  I started hydrating on Monday, making sure to drink as much water or powerade zero as possible-but I also knew I needed to drink something before.  There is a fine balance with this because if I drank too much it was going to require a potty break, and I really didn't want to add time waiting in a line on the course.

Pre-race:  The race started just outside of Turner Field, so I had Robert drop me off as close as possible and then I made my way to my corral.  Since it was a tad chilly to actually stand in the cold, Robert dropped me off and then went to work out, and came back in time to see me near the finish line.  It was about 40 degrees when the first wave started at 7:30 but it turned out to be ideal running weather.

Course:  If you are familiar with Atlanta at all, you know that it is deceivingly hilly.  We did a loop through the city, going past the CNN center over to Northside Drive, through Atlantic Station, over to Piedmont Park, then up and down Juniper (more on that later), near the MLK memorial, past Oakland Cemetery, and then around the Capital Building, back to Turner Field.  The first quarter of a mile was up hill, but I ended up not minding as much when I was running down that hill at the finish.  I was actually on pace to do 2:05 or better up until mile 9, which is around the time of Juniper.  It was a lot of rolling hills until the end.  This is also where my back started hurting.  My back hurt a little in the 1/2 back in March, but I was either able to work past it or it went away.  This time around, it came and only got worse.  I was so close to walking at a few points, but I knew I had already slowed down so much that if I walked I would risk not getting a PR.

I told Robert he was at the perfect location on the course.  He was about a quarter of a mile from the finish line, at the top of a hill and right before the downhill portion to the finish line.  I wasn't sure if I would be able to find him, but he was like a light at the end of a tunnel.  I ran over towards him so he could take a picture (my Mom's request), and then picked up the pace until the finish.

There weren't nearly as many people out on the course this time around, which wasn't surprising since it was Thanksgiving morning.  But I was able to get a good chuckle out of one of the signs someone had around Atlantic Station, it was "Worst Parade Ever."

After the race Robert and I headed home to relax for a few hours before heading up to my in-laws house for Thanksgiving.  Overall it was a good day, and it totally made the huge plate of food I ate for dinner worth it (though I was proud I didn't go back for seconds).