Rock'n the Race

I think it is safe to say that: tiz no sham that Zoe and I rocked our (her first half!) race :)

Shamrock'n Half Marathon March 2012: A Recap

I went to bed at 9:30 (actually 10:30 with the time change!) but had a terrible night sleep. I blame it on pre race jitters! My cell phone went off at 1:30am and I answered it from some strange reason (thinking maybe it was Zoe calling?). I proceded to have an unusual - slightly creepy - hello? moment with some inebriated person for about 10 seconds. Then I hung up and went to sleep. 

Then I had a nightmare at 3:00am that Zoe and I had missed the beginning of the race. I woke up sweating and having to pee!

I almost sprang out of my bed at 5:30am when my alarm finally went off. 

Breakfast was an english muffin with plenty of peanut butter, chia seeds, and some honey. And a small cup of coffee with some soy milk. I timed my eating and drinking perfectly; my belly was all set to run by the time I left the house with Zoe at 6:40am. 

We got to Raley Field at 7:00am; the race started at 7:45am. It was cold, but not freezing. The weather predicted rain, but we raced it :D And there was virtually zero wind. Score! 

After bouncing around for 20 minutes trying to stay warm and contain our excitement, the blow horn went off and so did we!

I glanced at my garmin in the first few minutes of the race and saw we were going a 7:50 pace! We were both full of energy, but I was a little worried we would burn out too fast. However, I just went with it, figuring we would adjust to our normal 8:50 - 9:20 pace sooner or later...

 So much for that. Check out our awesome times! :

Mile 1: 8:16
Mile 2: 8:09
Mile 3: 8:03
Mile 4: 8:01
Mile 5: 8:09
Mile 6: 8:08
Mile 7: 8:15
Mile 8: 8:23
Mile 9: 8:25
Mile 10: 8:14
Mile 11: 8:27 (cramp!)
Mile 12: 8:33
Mile 13: 8:00
the .1(8): 6:25

Please ignore the fact that I look like a chicken in this photo

I was feeling a little tired at mile 7 (clearly) and we slowed down our pace a few notches. I still could not believe were were going so fast, being that our morning 3 mile training runs have a lap pace of 8:45-9:10. The farther we ran, the more tired I got, but I just couldn't imagine slowing down because I kept thinking, "You may never run this fast again. You can make it in under 2 hours. Make all that training count! You feel great, you have no reason not to totally kill this race."

And Zoe had so much energy. I was amazed at how she always had a (slight) lead on me, but it kept me pushing through the miles.

The crowds of people scattered throughout the race certainly helped too. Running through Old Sacramento filled me with so much energy! But by mile 11 I was getting starting to get whiped out. And then I got a cramp in my lower left side, which took a mile to work off. Boo! But it did subside thanks to some deep belly breathing.

Another thing that was unexpected was that we hardly talked the whole race. We always talk in our morning runs, yet the silence in this race was not weird at all. We were both in 'the zone'... and is it weird to say that we were almost mentally communicating? Like she always

At mile 12, all I wanted to do was take off my shoes and drink the mango synergy that was waiting for me at the finish line.

We picked up the pace at in that last mile, and at the corner before Raley Feild we sprinted into the stadium. I was breathing so hard; my legs didn't even feel connected to my body. We passed a few people (always empowering) and then, they called out our names, and just like that we were done! 13.1 miles literally flew by.

Our time was 1:48:16. Not really sure what that 1:33:35 is all about...

... and there was free water (which I had such a hard time opening!), and sweaty bodies, and smiles, and high fives, and hugs, and tired legs!

and men who felt like flaunting their bodies....

We placed 9th and 10th in our age group (0-18), out of 73 other awesome lady athletes!

Post race celebration consisted of some walking (to the car!), rolling, stretching, hydrating, and then a lovely bowl of cinnamon banana oatmeal with coconut and almond butter. <3 

~

I've gained so much from this race: 196 miles training. Stronger legs. Speed. A joy for running at 6am. And, most importantly, a new friend! Running with Zoe has allowed me to exceed my goals as a runner. I know this race would have not been nearly as much fun, nor as fast, if I had run it solo. We make such a great running team! Really, I am so grateful and happy to have had her to run with, and am so pumped for the races we will rock in the future!

CIM HERE WE COME ! :D