Long time no see! I have been super busy with school, work, and holiday festivities so unfortunately blogging has been pushed aside. Luckily (probably the wrong word to use here) I’m in finals week (yeah, definitely the wrong word to use) so I’ll get a break from grad school starting Saturday! I do post fairly regularly on Instagram if you want to follow me there!
The last time I posted was about my FIRST full marathon, and then I had my half marathon race the following weekend. So here we go- my Berkeley Half Marathon recap!
The entire week after my first marathon was about recovery. This included a ton of foam/stick rolling, stretching, compression gear worn on basically every appendage that compression gear is sold for, and resting. Boy was I sore those first 3 days. Stairs, or should I say going downstairs, were my enemies.
Luckily the only pain I had was a result of DOMS (delayed onset muscle soreness- or as I like to call it, walking like you have a stick shoved up your ass). I did a VERY easy and short 0.5 mile jog on the Thursday before the Berkeley Half (a Sunday race). I just wanted to double check that nothing was hurting in the “uh oh I’m injured” sort of way. No injuries spotted.
That Sunday I woke up at 5AM to force-feed myself a bagel with almond butter. I got ready and foam-rolled while I waited for my friend Shanna to get to our house. From there, Kyle, Shanna, and I drove to my parents’ house and then we all carpooled into Berkeley (we didn’t want all our cars there because parking is crappy). My family was much nicer to me this year as opposed to last year because for last year’s Berkeley half marathon (only my 2nd half marathon that I had ever done), I made us get to the race before 6AM (for an 8AM start). This year we arrived around 7AM- notice the difference in absence/presence of sunlight…and people.
We easily found the starting area, got in the porta-potty lines (I went to the bathroom, washed my hands, and then immediately got back in line. Nervous pee-er), and then discussed where we would all meet at the end. Before we knew it, it was time to hop into our corrals.
I originally signed up to finish around 1:57 (my PR), but that was before I had decided to run a marathon the week before. I knew I wasn’t going to PR, so I stood in the back of my corral (which worked out nicely because Shanna was at the front of her corral right behind me).
The race started fairly close to on-time. I had these kids in my corral to make my nerves disappear while I waited for us to start. That man is a beast to run while pulling a wagon.
This year the Berkeley Half Marathon was on a different course (last year was the inaugural race and they had many complaints). I was looking forward to the change of scenery and running through my old college campus! Unfortunately this also meant that the course was hilly (as opposed to last year’s net downhill race). I quickly remembered that I had ran a marathon just 1 week ago. Hello tired legs. Meet, uphill.
The first 3 miles flew by. I was focused on warming up and making sure I didn’t feel any pain in my legs.
Miles 1-3: 9:13, 10:05, 9:06
I got far too good at the “warming up” part though and regretted wearing running tights. Good thing Nuun was sponsoring the event :)
Miles 4-6: 9:46, 9:28, 9:04
Those hills felt like death but at least I was enjoying the course. I hit mile 6 and it felt weird that I was almost half way done!
I knew miles 7-10 would be mostly flat, but also mentally challenging because you run out next to a highway, hit a certain point, and turn around and head back. You see all those faster runners running the opposite direction and wonder when you get to finally turn around. PLUS this highway was also where I threw out my back in the previous year’s race and I was stressing out because for some reason I thought the same injury would occur in the same location…
Miles 7-10: 9:28, 9:46, 9:36, 9:42
For some reason at mile 10, I got it in my head that I could finish sub-2 hours. I was at about 1:35 (total time) and I know I can run a 5K in under 25 min. Unfortunately the logic portion of my brain wasn’t sending signals to my brain calculator, informing it that my legs were tired from running 26.2 miles 1 week prior AND that the last 3 miles are completely uphill.
So I took off like an injured and disoriented bat out of hell. And then I remembered what uphill felt like. On tired legs. Must. Keep. Moving.
Miles 11-12: 9:18, 9:32
I knew I wasn’t the only one suffering because everyone seemed to slow down together.
Mile 13: 10:07
Official time: 2:05:41
BFF pic! (I wore my Morgan Hill Marathon tee :))
Definitely not a PR. Only my very first half marathon was slower than this one. But at least I had fun! And I was also extremely happy that walking post-race was incredibly easy (compared to the week prior when I wanted a wheel chair after my full marathon).
The usual post-race pic with my fave guy who is always there to cheer me on!
And with my parents, who at this point, probably see my races similarly to how people see hamsters in their wheels.
I’m fairly certain my dad is calculating how long it will take to get home and at what time he could be on the golf course
And that’s half marathon number 5 done! My next half marathon isn’t until February 2015, so I’m taking some time to recover and then I’ll be getting back into speed work! Unfortunately right now I’m having some weird knee and hip/glute pain, which I’m 99% sure is related to my IT band…
What’s the weirdest runner costume you’ve seen during a race?
Have you done back-to-back races (same day, next day, or week)?
Any suggestions for my leg issues? I’m rolling and stretching…
