Race Report: Alpharetta Women's Half

 Previous PR: 1:47:02 (Thanksgiving 2018)

90% Goal: 2:10
50% Goal: 2:05
10% Goal: sub 2
Result: 1:59:04

Training: Let's be real here: I haven't trained. I kinda half-assed a few weeks of effort, but there's been no actual training going on. 

Pre-Race: Parked about 50yd from the start, and sat in my car with the seat heaters on with my best friend until it was port-a-potty time .We found a friend pacing 2:00 at the start, said "hello", and then went on our own ways. I had no idea what I would do today, but knew I didn't want any pressure of keeping with a pace group or having a goal time in my head. 

Race: I took off on the downhill, just wanting to run whatever my body felt. Turns out, it felt pretty flipping strong for the first few miles. This course, though, SUCKS. I think it's the worst course I run, and I only keep signing up for this race because it's crazy convenient and cheap.

The first ~6mi are "rolling hills", then there's about 4mi on the greenway (flat, but boring as all get-out) before running STRAIGHT UP for the last ~5K towards the finish, which is also uphill. Every year, I hate this course, yet, every year, I sign up to do it again. 

I was plagued by visions of pacers for the first bit, with 1;55 ahead of me and 2:00 coming into view sometimes, but generally being being me. I hated the feeling of being chased. I wanted to just run, without thinking about pace or finish time, but that was impossible when I saw the little white flags and their taunting numbers. 

The mileage signs also threw me for a loop. I wear two watches when I run: a Polar and a Garmin. This started because I've got a lot of history with Garmin and like keeping my stats in one place, but won a Polar and wanted to give it a whirl. Now it's a habit for me to have both on when running. Normally, they're not super synced up on distance. Today, they were... but both about 0.1-0.15 ahead of the course's official mileage signs. It was insanely hard not to get riled up feeling like I was running hard , hitting sub-9s on my watch when it auto-lapped, but seeing a 9:30 or more on my watch when I passed a mileage sign. 

Around mile 4, I found myself comfortably alone on the course, between a few pods of runners. By the time I hit the greenway, it was even sparser. I liked it. I could just run. I told myself to "settle in" to the greenway, and enjoy the chalk messages one of the training group coaches had written every ~15s or so for the entire four miles. I felt some stomach/diaphragm cramps, and wondered if I was breathing wrong or just feeling yesterday's core workout, but continued. 

It sucked. It sucked so much. I let myself ease up on the pressure, thinking I could run with less effort than before because it was flat... but then people started passing me, and I saw a 9:41 on my watch. WTF, was I really going THAT slowly? 

Yes. Yes, I was. 

Some mental math told me that, if my watch's distance had been right to start, I could probably 10min/mi and still come close to 2. Ugh. "Close". I didn't want to finish in 2:00:10, if sub-2 was a possibility. That meant I had to try. 

I did something I never do and turned on some music, then shoved my phone back in my shorts pocket and tried to lean into the Luis Fonsi and my latino jams. It helped. My next mile was faster. 

I counted down the miles until the beast of a hill around ~11. It took FOREVER to get from 8 to 10, but I got there. The YMCA hill at mile 11 wasn't as bad as I'd thought it would be. I slowed a lot, but didn't walk. 

...but then the hills just kept coming. I walked for about 15s on the subsequent crest, thinking I'd probably be moving faster than my trudge/jog, then resumed the suck. 

I hate the last two miles of this course. SO MUCH. 

The entire time, I kept thinking I could keep a 10min pace and still hit sub-2, but then doubted myself because, if the course mile signs were correct, I'd miss it by about 2-3min. Can't let up. 

I felt miserable going up the final hill and miserable coming down the shoot, but I could see the 1:59 on the clock and the 1:59 on my watch, and knew that I was NOT going to enjoy any sort of buffer. I kicked, hating every second, but was SO proud to cross that line in under 2:00.  

splits

blue = pace, green = altitude/elevation (note the beast of a hill around 1:45)

Reflections:

Every time I run a half, I have this feeling that 2:00 should feel as easy as a 30min 5K (despite being about a min/mile faster), and am so frustrated when it doesn't. I ran a 1;47 pregnant four years ago. Why is it so hard to do this now? Why do I see Instagram stories of other mom friends who seem to be able to stay so fit so effortlessly? It's definitely hard not to compare/contrast and get jealous... 

I'm proud of what I did today, though, and am choosing to be grateful that I can even be out here running and pushing myself. I couldn't have done that last year.