New strategies pay off

Keith and Henry crossing the finish line!!

It was 2 a.m. this morning and I was wide awake. I took a pain killer for my back (I need a new mattress) and forgot that codeine wires me up big time. So when the alarm went off at 4:15 a.m. I turned it off. Oops. I got up at 5:30 which was the time I was supposed to be at Tat and Steven's for a ride. I called them and told them to leave me but they said they would wait (thanks so much!) I threw on some clothes, grabbed some food, brushed my teeth, poured some coffee in a mug and ran out the door. There was no time for a nice hot bath, stretching, duke out, dog walking, or anything. I even forgot to put on deodorant!!! So needless to say, I wasn't really expecting much for this run. Then we showed up at Turner Field to learn the race started at Centennial Olympic Park.

We got there in time for a duke out and some stretching. Thank goodness. The stretching wasn't necessary, but the duking out is important.

I lined up in my corral and started running. Keith and Henry caught up with me a couple of minutes later. Keith said how easy it looked like I was taking it-and it felt it too! My heartrate was abnormally low for the pace I was holding and I felt good so I just kept running with them until they split off at mile seven. I kept looking at my HR monitor thinking maybe it wasn't working properly, but I felt fine, and I was keeping my HR in my training zones. My pace was still pretty decent at around mile 9 and I was glad that I made it out for the run. It was starting to get really cold and I was hoping it wouldn't start raining. I kept waiting and waiting for the hills because everyone said it was a hilly course, but I didn't see them. I would call these "rollers" at best. There was maybe one hill, but that was it. At mile 11 I decided to push it and get my HR up a little bit more to see what kind of time I could end up with. The last mile was the toughest for me, and it seemed like it was NEVER going to end! The finish area was weird, it was very narrow and hard to get around people and sprint to the finish. Garmin time: 1:58:49, 13.33 miles, 8:54 average pace. Chip time: 1:58:50.

This half-marathon felt NOTHING like Thanksgiving! My legs felt fine afterwards and my average heartrate was 10 BPM lower than Thanksgiving. I came home, watching Keith and Henry finish thanks to the live feed and tracking system, took a bath, then hopped on the trainer until I felt like I was going to fall asleep. (I did only sleep for 3.5 hours!) I tried to nap but just couldn't. So I accidently PR'd. Tat and Victor did too! Congrats to Keith on his first marathon "training run". Kate Brun was 5th place overall female! Nat smoked the marathon like always!

Many thanks also to my mom for picking up Poncey and Bella and taking them to doggie daycare. Apparently Bella bit mom and she had to go to the minute clinic at CVS. She was all doped up when I talked to her (and driving!) and when I told her my finishing time she complained about how slow I was saying "the wheelchair guys got done in 50 minutes!" Bella doesn't like strangers too much yet and says that she is sorry!