I did it!

On Saturday, I told you about how I was about to do something that terrified me and then on Sunday, I told you about how my confidence got a bit shaken from the things that went wrong before my race.

So I bet you're wondering how my first ever half-marathon race went, aren't you...? 

The race start time was at 8am, so I started my day with a wake up at 5am.  

As someone who hates to get up before 6am, it seemed excessively early, but the official event guide for the San Jose Rock 'n' Roll half-marathon said to do that.  

(It also said to start carb loading a couple of days beforehand and to not experiment with new foods in the days leading up to the race, which I also did.) 

For breakfast, I had:

• 8 ounces of water
• 3/4 of a granola bar (Luna peppermint flavor, for those curious)
• toast with peanut butter
• banana

During all of my training time and prior to showing up at the race location, I tried to be confident but not to get too optimistic or ahead of myself.  As a first-timer half-marathon runner, my primary goal was just to not get picked up by the "slow people" van.  Beyond that, I had a couple of different time goals based on the training that I'd done.  My initial time goal was 2:30, and my secondary time goal was 2:15.  

As I mentioned in my last post, my right leg has been giving me a bit of trouble in the last few weeks.    So much so that I was only able to train up to 10.3 miles (instead of the final 11 mile run that I originally put on my training schedule).  Even heading into today's race, I was well rested but worried about my leg.  I just couldn't accurately predict how the race (and the day) was going to go. Hence, the 2 different time goals. Even the day before the race, I thought I'd run it just like any other long training day (and not overly fast).  (At the expo, I wasn't even 100% sure at what pace I would run. I actually signed up to run with the 2:15 pace group and even confirmed what I should do if I had to fall back to the 2:30 pace group.)

After getting to the start location, the corrals were clearly marked, and it was easy to understand what to do and where to be.  I spent a bit of time doing some short practice (warm up) runs, stretching, and checking out the start area.  Then about 15-20 minutes before the race start time, I had a Stinger Gu (Vanilla flavor, for those curious) to refuel my energy.

And before I knew it, it was race time!

I've had a lot of experiencing doing both road and cross-country races, and 1 thing I've found is that it's better to start out at a bit faster pace because you need to get out and around some of the crowd.  So I did end up going with that strategy again but then since I was unfamiliar with the course, I got a litte disoriented on how far I'd gone and, by mile 1, I felt like I was going too fast.  I had to keep (mentally) telling myself to ease off a little bit because I didn't want to run the beginning too fast and run out of energy (and have to walk).  

Towards the beginning of the race, I couldn't find the 2:15 pace group at all.  And then around mile 3, I finally caught up to them....only to pass them a couple of minutes later.  

By mile 4, my right knee area was already starting to feel uncomfortable and like it was going to start hurting worse.  So I again backed off the speed a little bit (not much) and tried to just keep making good strides and being consistent.  To some degree, though, I had to just ignore my leg issue and just keep powering through because if I didn't, I'd just be giving it way too much attention.  On the 1 hand, I knew it might become more painful if I didn't stop and walk or at least ease back, and on the other hand, I didn't have much experience with this kind of issue so wasn't 100% of what might happen or what was the best course of action.  A friend of mine who has been doing many (many!) half and full marathons told me that I should take the first few miles easy (or at least easier) so that my body would treat it as more of a "warm up."  (Too bad I remembered that advice after I'd already started out at a faster pace!) 

Well...I must have done something right because around mile 5, I started to forget about my leg.

Around mile 9, I started to feel tired, but I pressed on.  

Just before mile 12, I started feeling like I was almost done and that I still had some energy left, so I used whatever I had and picked up the pace for the last 1.1 miles.

I'm pretty sure I ran most of the race with the 2:15 pace group somewhere behind me. I still ended up finishing in under 2:15 (but on my own).  

Well, for someone who had a goal of not getting picked up by the slow bus, finishing in 2:30, or finishing in 2:15, I think I did pretty well for my first time.  

How about any of you readers -- have you ever done a road race?