Half #2: Detroit Free Press Half

Whaaaaat? I have a blog?

The answer is yes, although after this first month and a half of law school, one may quite accurately conclude that I do not.

BUT the fact that I completed half marathon #2 two weeks ago is a good reason to start it up again.

So yes, half marathon #2.

Detroit Half, I loved you.


Training
Training was a little spotty on this one, which is to be expected with freaking law school sucking up all my time. Plus toss in the fact that training didn't REALLY start until September, and we've got a tough situation. I only got in 2 real long runs: an 8 miler and a 10k, but I was decently consistent about getting in all those little 3 mile runs, and a lot of 4-5 milers.

I am significantly slower than I was last spring, which is a super bummer. Idk what it is - fear of hurting my foot, not in shape enough, not enough sleep -- who knows. But the goal for the winter is to diagnose and get fast again. I think it might also be finally time to reintroduce the five fingers.

Race Prep
I somehow managed to read the runner's world article from the september(?) issue about proper carbo-loading, and tried to do that. I was really good about it thursday, and only decent friday and yesterday. Because I'm proud of my Thursday's eatings:

bfast: cherry vanilla panera bagel + light cream cheese
banana
OJ
lunch: sushi
(+miso soup and small salad)
dinner:chicken burrito

plus the drinks from going out thursday night.

oh how i love carbs.

additionally, I had serious qualms about what to wear. Not running in my fivefingers has given me occasional shin splints, so i wasn't sure if i wanted to compression sock or kinesiology-taping it up - i ended up doing neither.

Expo + Swag!
I am the biggest sucker for free stuff. Law school is so bad because there's constantly free pizza lunches, candy, etc. and I just want it all. So, of course race expo's rock my world.

This race expo wasn't a ton bigger than the Martian Marathon Expo in April, but I did get some cooler stuff. Highlights include:
-RunDisney bag
-Wheaties fuel cereal
-5 hour energy shot

Additionally to the free stuff I couldn't say no to:

a 13.1 Detroit Marathon Pint Glass.

Yes, drinking and running. I love it.

and best of all:

an awesome freaking race shirt.

I love that it just screams "I ran 13.1 miles"
fit is good, design is good. just awesome.

RACE DAY


the 6:58 start time was kind of a killer. Especially coming from Ann Arbor. I dragged two chicas from the 1L law school class with me, Besty and Polina, and we left around 5AM. Eek.

I was running around like a crazy person for most of the morning - i definitely did not give myself enough time to get everything done that i needed to, but it all worked out okay. I didn't make coffee, which i wanted to do, and I also failed to grab my pack of sports beans which are one of the only reasons i run (okay thats a lie, but they are a great incentive to get out the door for a run longer than an hour)

Parking was effortless since my mom works and parks in downtown detroit. we got to race not too early before start time, I ran into the two other people who i knew were running sunday.

Organization of the start was good - there was a lack of portapotties, but we had luckily taken care of that beforehand at my mom's building.

betsy, me, polina
pre-race!

The adrenaline was pumping, I was going to run this and run it hard, and after about 7 minutes due to a wave start, I was on my way to running 13.1 miles.

the race course was awesome. Over the ambassador bridge, a few miles in Windsor Canada, and then back through the tunnel, which is an underwater tunnel connecting Detroit to Windsor. It is the only underwater mile in a race. Which is definitely something to brag about, but unfortunately it was maybe the most miserable.

The girls and I decided we start together, try and keep up, but if we felt the need to split up no one was going to be mad. Just do what you do. We stuck together for the first few miles or so, but went off at our own paces once we got further into it.

The bridge portion was super windy, but it was kind of nice to have the breeze. I didn't do a lot of spectating on the bridge, most of it was actually weaving and running pretty fast to try and catch up to the girls after I stopped to tie my shoe.

The windsor part was super nice as it was right on the river. The tunnel was killer. Super hot, super loud, never-ending.  My underwater mile was 8:58.

The rest of the way looping around detroit was good. There were a few points where I struggled, but for the most part it wasn't bad. I did a little walking through a water stop, and then for 30 seconds randomly.

 My mom planted herself right around mile 12, which was such a boost. I also ran past a veteran with one arm, and after thanking him, I got a bit of a boost too. It's the little things in the race setting.

FINISH:


1:59:44 according to the chip time. sub-2 hrs!

we did it!

I'm happy with it. ~5 minute improvement over last time, 9:09 average pace, and pretty damn good for being so slow and inadequately trained.

And the best parts: Space Blankets and awesome medals. LOVED it.

Garmin stats:

Love that i killed the last mile. not exactly negative splits at all, but at least my slowest miles were 10&11.

Overall, half marathon #2 was AWESOME. now I need a new race on the agenda. any suggestions?