New Half Marathon PR!!!

OK, so maybe it wasn't a REAL Half Marathon. I mean, there were no t-shirts, or medals or timing chips. But on Saturday morning during our "slow" 14 mile run, J's Garmin told us we hit 13.1 at a whopping:

1:59:59!!!

Holy Crap! A SUB 2 hour half marathon!!! Why can't I do that during a race?

Well, reason number 1: The weather.

We woke up to 43 degree temps on Saturday morning. Something I haven't seen in years. I didn't even know what to do with myself. Or what to wear for that matter. So I layered up with a thin tank, a long sleeve, my new capris, gloves that J made me buy at our last expo and an earband that J had tucked in the closet from his old mountain biking days. And I have to say, with all this gear on I was actually the most comfortable I had ever been on a run. No chaffing, or tugging, or riding up, or flopping around. Other than my hands being a little sweaty, it was perfect.

Reason 2: My stomach.

My parent's were visiting this weekend and my dad made his famous Swiss Steak with Mashed Potatoes for dinner. For once, we ate something besides pasta the night before a run and my stomach felt great (same thing when I ate the Shepherd's Pie a few weeks back). Maybe I should steer clear of pasta and just eat potatoes, they seem to agree with me more.

Reason 3: I was well rested.

I actually got about 7 hours of sleep the night before. Wow, what a difference THAT makes!

Reason 4: I was totally lazy last week.

Sooooo lazy. And you know what? I think it's perfectly fine to be lazy every now and then. I ran over 40 miles the week before with a 20 mile run thrown in. Last week I was just tired. Not only was I tired, but I was bored as hell. The thought of getting out there on the bike path for an hour made me cringe. So I rested. I rode my bike one day and MADE myself go for a 7 miler on Thursday (which by the way was REALLY hot and miserable). Other than that, I just let myself relax a bit and not worry. Come Saturday, my legs felt fantastic and I was ready to get out there and run again.

All that together made for a perfect run on Saturday morning. The weather was great, no clothing issues, I wasn't tired, no GI problems, I felt wonderful. I knew we were going a bit faster than usual but J didn't say anything and I figured I had rested so much all week I may as well go for it and see what happened. Our pace for the whole run was 9:06. Definitely the fastest I have ever run 14 miles.

And about 2 miles from the finish we passed all the people who were walking the Philadelphia Breast Cancer 3-Day Event as they started their second day of 20 mile walks through Philly. These brave souls walked 60 miles over 3 days through the streets of Philadelphia and CAMPED OUT in between walks (did I mention how cold it was?) to raise money for breast cancer research.

As we ran up the street, they all passed us on the sidewalk. We cheered them on as we ran and thanked them for walking. It was funny to be running and cheering on the people who weren't, but they were great and cheered us right back with giant smiles on their faces. It was fun to see the hundreds the women and men dressed in pink walking along Main Street Manayunk and an inspiring way to end the long run. I also think all their cheering for us helped us run a little faster at the end.

So maybe I didn't get a medal at the end of my new PR, but the experience was pretty wonderful anyway.

Other than that, it was a great weekend. Just hung out with my parent's, showing them around Philly and eating more Cheesesteaks...


...enjoying the Phillies Phever. (Although, I am also happy about TB making it, but I have to go with the Phillies on this one)...


...and of course, loving the beautiful fall weather.


Tomorrow I start my new job. EEK! No more mid-day running and blog-reading for me. Wish me luck!

LAAAZZYYYYY...
Monday, 10/13 - off
Tuesday, 10/14 - Bike - 15 miles (walked 3 because of flat - ugh!)
Wednesday, 10/15 - off
Thursday, 10/16 - 7 miles/1:04:43 - 9:15 pace (thought I was running waaaaaay slower than this)
Friday, 10/17 - off
Saturday, 10/18 - 13.72 miles/2:05:02 - 9:06 pace (J yelled at me when we were done for running too fast...oops)
Sunday, 10/19 - off

Total Weekly Mileage: 20.72 (RUN)
Total Weekly Mileage: 15 (BIKE)