Run the Day: Subaru Classic Half Marathon

Happy (late) Thanksgiving!

For the first time, I did a race Thanksgiving day morning and it was AWESOME. I got my running buddy to do it with me and it was her first half marathon race! Started out about 66 degrees and we were chilly waiting for the kick off. No rain either even though the picture looks threatening.

We started off feeling really great together but she's a faster runner than I am so I knew we'd separate at some point. We ran into some fellow Galloway runners and stuck with them for about 3 miles before I had to back off and slow down if I wanted to last the whole time. I have to say I felt freaking amazing the whole race until the very end. At mile 10 I was a little worried thinking you still have a 5k to go.. but next thing I knew I was at mile 11 and then mile 12. It went by so fast. The last mile was in a neighborhood and it was TORTURE. They had us crossing paths with people ahead of us twice so mentally it was frustrating. I could see on my Garmin where I was in the race but visually in the neighborhood it felt like it took FOREVER to get out of there. On top of that, the finish was around a corner that you don't know is there until your on top of it so I wasn't really able to kick it into gear until I could see how far I had to go. I personally think it's better when it's a straight shot so you can really judge how hard to push it.

My watch was off track with the mile markers the entire time. So my watch said that we were finished right at the time we crossed the 13 mile marker. So I stopped my watch at 13.1 because my watch it usually pretty accurate with mileage. When I look at my past half marathons, this time is spot on... The Marine Corps half a month ago was much more difficult mentally and physically and I finished that in 2:48. OK, I need to quit comparing!!

I got to wear my Pro compression socks for the first time and I think they did help! I wore them from about 11-330 and my legs felt better after I took them off.