Williamsburg 1/2 Marathon

It sure felt like the right idea Saturday morning during indoor cycling. As everyone else was getting ready for there 14 miler after the bike, I was chilling. Until Susie & Rick reminded me of how hilly Williamsburg is and warning me that the 2nd half of this race was miserably uphill. Sweet.

Then Sunday morning, I realized there was no really good way to plan nutrition for a 1pm race start when you had to be there by 11:30 to register the unregistered peeps and it was an hour away. Figured on consuming plenty of Gu.

What I didn't know is that there are only 4 water stops on the course: at miles 2.5, 6, 7 (!), and 10. WTF. Can't consume Gu without water. So I had Gu at miles 2.5 and 7. I realized at mile 6 that I was starving. This is when I realized that the water stops were literally water stops. No sportsdrink, no fruit, no frills. Wow. That's hardcore. This race cost $50. The shirt is cotton. Water only on the course. Afterwards, I saw 2 water coolers & 2 sportsdrink coolers along with coffee, lemonade & beer. The water & sportsdrink were getting the most action. No one was near the coffee & lemonade. I saw bananas afterward. No fruit. There was a rumor of bagels, but I never saw them. So I'm wondering what my $50 paid for.

Anyway, it was great to ride down with a van full of peeps - I've got to say that going to races with good friends and having a lot of fun for hours and hours before & after races beats the crap out of just racing and heading home. Can't wait to do a race waaaayy out of town with a bunch of good friends....hmmmm... IMTX?

The race itself was good. DB, Patty, J9 and I all agreed that the goal was to start slow - somewhere in the 11 to 11:20 range. Our first mile was 10:15. Uh oh. We talked for another 5 miles about slowing down. We kept trying. But every time we'd hit a downhill, we were under pace. I don't think I was alone worrying about the road back - especially this very nice long downhill we flew through the Golden Horseshoe golf course. Only bright side was the very long uphill we climbed afterward would be a nice lead in back up that the ugly hill.

Bottom line is I didn't even know what my 1/2 marathon PR was before this race. I thought it was either 2:15 or 2:20. Thanks to Rick & Susie, I knew to put that out of my mind and just aim for the official results cut off of 2:30. I finished by my watch in 2:18:39 (and learned that my Garmin puts the course at 13.22 miles - what a bonus). Official results haven't been posted, but I crossed the line at 2:19:45 per the race clock. Later on I learned that my PR for a 1/2 was 2:28:54! Guess there is some good in training because I'm now faster than I was 8 years ago on a tougher course. How sweet is that?

Next up: outdoor biking after 4 months of indoor cycling. I'm very interested to see how that goes.