Last Sunday I ran the MORE/Fitness Women’s Half Marathon. I started this race recap post Sunday night, but was exhausted, so I decided to wait to put it up until Monday when I got out of work. And then, the bombings at the Boston Marathon happened and I could not think of anything else. It didn’t feel appropriate to post or say anything that was not Boston related. Now that the second suspect is in custody, it feels like this tragedy may have an end. The events that happend this past Monday will not be forgotten – and the reactions of runners, volunteers, medical staff, first responders, etc. have helped restore faith in humanity at a time when we all need it most. I’ve never been more proud to be from Boston and to be a part of the running community.
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I never mentioned that I was running the MORE/Fitness Women’s Half Marathon, because it was a somewhat spontaneous decision, sparked by my friend Jess’ decision to run. Once Jess mentioned that she was planning to sign up I started to think about my pre-marathon tendencies and realized, what better way to make sure that I am incorporating longer runs into the final days before tapering than to run a half marathon. So Jess and I signed up for the MORE/Fitness Women’s Half Marathon three weeks ago, and quickly got excited for the race.
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I never mentioned that I was running the MORE/Fitness Women’s Half Marathon, because it was a somewhat spontaneous decision, sparked by my friend Jess’ decision to run. Once Jess mentioned that she was planning to sign up I started to think about my pre-marathon tendencies and realized, what better way to make sure that I am incorporating longer runs into the final days before tapering than to run a half marathon. So Jess and I signed up for the MORE/Fitness Women’s Half Marathon three weeks ago, and quickly got excited for the race.
I love running half marathons, but what made this half marathon even better was that it was an all women’s half marathon. It’s really inspiring to look around during a race and to be surrounded by women of all different ages being active and challenging themselves. Everyone was really supportive of each other throughout the race, and the volunteers kept saying “women run the world.” I’m not necessarily a feminist – despite what my sister would have me or anyone believe – but ever since the Spice Girls made it big, I’ve been a huge fan of “Girl Power.”
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| [Source] |
Even with my sporadic training, I know that I have learned a lot through this training cycle. I’ve learned what works for me as far as eating, sleeping, and hydrating before and during the race; I’ve learned that I am capable of pushing through hills, and that walking through them hurts rather than helps; I’ve learned that running my own race is far more important than getting caught up in runners around me; I’ve learned that my attitude before and during a race has a large impact on how well I am able to do; and I’ve learned that one of my favorite things about running races and long distances is pushing myself to do better each time.
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| MORE/Fitness Magazine Half Marathon Expo |
So with each each of these lessons learned, I woke up Saturday and began preparing for Sunday. I drank water, ate small meals every two hours and carbo loaded throughout the day. Katelyn and I made our way to the MORE/Fitness Women’s Half Marathon Expo to pick up our numbers and to check out the vendors. It was an awesome Expo and I’m already in the process of convincing my mom to run next year just so that she can experience the Expo. The Expo included smoothie demos and samples, protein bar samples, running gear vendors, running related jewelry vendors, upcoming race information, make overs, and more. Each participant also received a tech shirt and a copy of April’s MORE Magazine and Fitness Magazine. I left the Expo with a positive attitude ready for Sunday. To continue with the pre-race relaxation, I met my roommate for manis/pedis, and then we made our way to Whole Foods to pick up ingredients to make pizza. It was a perfect pre-race day and night.
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| Whole Wheat Pizza Dough from Whole Foods, Mozzarella Cherry Tomatoes, Basil and Grilled Chicken. |
Sunday morning, Jess and I made our way to Central Park, arriving about a half hour before the start. We met up with Katelyn for a quick pre-race good luck and then settled into our corrals. Over 7,500 people ran the half marathon. Considering that the race was two and a half laps around Central Park, this is a lot of people to have in one place. For the first ten minutes of the race Jess and I felt like we were playing a game while we dodged runners. At some point we lost each other, but it was awesome knowing that my friends were running the same course.
As always, NYRR did an awesome job organizing the event. There were water stations at what felt like every mile and a half of the course, and there was gatorade at every other fluid station. Unlike Grete’s Great Gallop, the MORE/Fitness half was two and a half counter-clockwise loops. For any runners who plan to run this race in the future, this means that you hit the biggest hills in Central Park twice. The course is part of my long runs for training so I was used to the hills, but hitting the extended hills on the Upper West Side twice, in a race, is not ideal. Even though I could feel every single step of the second loop, there were volunteers placed along the hill to cheer runners on, which really helped.
As I made my way into the last two miles, I looked at my garmin and realized I was going to PR if I kept my current pace. I pushed through the final miles of the race, and finished in 2 hours 16 minutes and 4 seconds, and PR-ed by 5 minutes and 9 seconds! I was psyched!
As always, NYRR did an awesome job organizing the event. There were water stations at what felt like every mile and a half of the course, and there was gatorade at every other fluid station. Unlike Grete’s Great Gallop, the MORE/Fitness half was two and a half counter-clockwise loops. For any runners who plan to run this race in the future, this means that you hit the biggest hills in Central Park twice. The course is part of my long runs for training so I was used to the hills, but hitting the extended hills on the Upper West Side twice, in a race, is not ideal. Even though I could feel every single step of the second loop, there were volunteers placed along the hill to cheer runners on, which really helped.
As I made my way into the last two miles, I looked at my garmin and realized I was going to PR if I kept my current pace. I pushed through the final miles of the race, and finished in 2 hours 16 minutes and 4 seconds, and PR-ed by 5 minutes and 9 seconds! I was psyched!
As is true with most, if not all, NYRR races, there were bagels and fruit at the finish line. I don’t even think that I like bagels in general, but between free bagels at races, and bagel Friday at work, I guess free bagels have become a selling point in my mind.
Overall – I loved the MORE/Fitness Half Marathon and look forward to signing up for it again next year!
Today marks the one week countdown to the Rock n Roll Nashville Country Music Marathon. Based on last weeks race, I’m hoping that I will PR in Nashville next week, too!
Will any of you be at the Country Music Marathon next weekend?!
What I’m Running to: We Come Running (Tiesto Remix) – Youngblood Hawke
Fueled by Endorphins 