Going into it I set a number of goals for myself. I haven't really shared them with people since these goals are kind of like birthday wishes to me - tell anyone and they may not come true! Not having had done any race before I really didn't know what to expect. So I went in basically with an open mind to expect anything.
Goal #1 - finish the race.
Result: this is an obvious one, and one that I expected to achieve unless a serious injury occurs. Luckily at the end all I could complain about were a few chaffed skin and blisters. CHECK!
Goal #2 - run the race without coming to a walk or stop.
Result: here is my confession - the longest training run I've done without coming to a rest was 8 miles. So this goal was a little intimidating to me but I really wanted to run the whole race; and I did. CHECK!
Goal #3 - run the race with a 11:30 minutes-per mile pace.
Result: the only reason for this goal was because I had been able to hit around 11:30-mpm in most of my long runs. Frankly I would've been happy with anything below 12-mpm. My chip time came out to 11:49-mpm but my Garmin claims 11:41-mpm. Hmm, which one should I believe? Close enough! CHECK!
According to Russ, the man in the chicken or pony costume (apparently he can't tell the difference, duh) beat me by a good 30 minutes. Man, that hurts.
I had a lot of fun and I'm very pleased with the race and the results. I definitely want to do it again next year. The goal? Beat the chicken/pony man!
Before the race where Russ dropped me off near the starting point
Somewhere around mile 8 or 9. I didn't realize how synchronized my pace was with those around me!
After the race. My race shirt!
You did really well not resting! With your dedication to your training I'm not surprised that you met your targets. Congratulations!
ReplyDeleteWhat does that work out as for a total race time? It's too hard to get my head around those old fashioned mile things! I'm absolutely sure it'll be much faster than my half marathon time. I had several drink/stretch breaks.
Are you taking a break from your training now before you start on the next challenge?
Fantastic, Novey! How proud you must be! (did you have a little cry when you crossed the finish lie?)
ReplyDelete@Raewyn: It came out to 2-hrs 34-min. I'm taking a break this week, but will start looking at training plans for my next half. I'm considering either the Santa Cruz Half in April (which is a little close) or the 1st Half of the San Francisco Marathon. Both will be more challenging than the Kaiser Half. I'm going to focus on speed and hills this time.
ReplyDeleteWhen is your half marathon? Where are you at in your training? That's so exciting!
@Kate: I wish I had energy left at the finish line to shed tears but I was just so happy that it was over! The last three miles were the hardest!
I meant the Auckland half marathon, which I did about 4 and a half years ago. I don't have any immediate plans to tackle another one! Though I wouldn't rule it out for the future. We're training for a 100km bike ride in March at the moment - probably the cycling equivalent of a half marathon. That's taking up a lot of training time so I've only been doing minimal running, just enough to keen my running fitness up for the 3km run in the mini tri I'm doing in March.
ReplyDeleteCongratulations. Well done. Didnt Russell get a photo of the chicken/pony man crossing the line? What a hoot.
ReplyDelete