My First Race!

So I officially ran in my first road race today.  Ran and finished the Hampton Half Marathon. It was a really well put together race with about 1500 racers on a very flat coarse on the ocean in Hampton, NH.   I had a really fun day enjoying my first race with Amy.  I think she had more fun than I did, getting to eat a huge breakfast buffet all by her self while sipping on mimosa's and enjoying the quiet while I was out running.

As for the race, my goal was to finish in under 2 hrs with a stretch goal of finishing in under 1:55. I really wanted to focus on staying slow in the first few miles and not letting the excitement of the race get me going too fast too soon.  I felt really good, finishing in 1:58:04 which accomplished my first goal but fell short of my 1:55 goal.  It was good to know that I paced myself well, and I think the other positive was that I feel like I can throw out any thought of finishing Boston in under 4 hours.  I ran a relatively comfortable race for the first 10 miles or so and then tried to kick it up a notch for the finish.  I go into a late kick and ran my 11th and 12th mile at about 8:40 after running about a 9:05 for the first 10.  I felt really strong late but kicked a little too early and bonked with a mile too go and did my last mile at about 9:10 though I was able to sprint in the last .2 miles with a great crowd cheering you on.

With the finish today I feel like there is no way in hell I can finish Boston in under 4 hours which was my goal going in and it helped to put my finishing tim in perspective.  Now I think I'm looking more like 4:10-4:15 as a finishing time and should be there to just enjoy the race.

After enjoying some great beer and chowda after the race and chatted with some friends,  Amy and I headed home to pick up the boys and head home to finish off the weekend.  My loving wife was sure to get a couple photo's of me icing down my ankle pain with a bucket of ice and a glass of Southern Comfort.   Looking forward to getting re-fitted for some new runnnig shoes this week as we work toward Boston in 8 short weeks.

Carb Loading

I didn't realize how long it's been since I've posted on here.   Time seems to be flying by and the marathon seems to be running up on me faster than I can track.

I have spent tonight fueling up on pasta and water in prep for my first half marathon on Sunday at Hampton Beach.   I have been fighting off injuries basically since November when i started the training and at this point I'm just getting over some soreness and tightness in my right foot.  I ran a nice slow 6.5 miles on Wednesday and unfortunately didn't get to the gym to hit the bike today.  At this point I'm not going to go out between now and Sundays race, and I can already feel my body itching to get some activity.

I'm going with the family up to Peabody tomorrow morning to spend the day at my mother in laws and spend the night there so we have a short ride Sunday Morning.  it will be nice for Amy and I to have some alone time for the day and am excited to have her there. 

My goal for the race is to be able to hold myself back for the first 5 to 6 miles of the race and not get out too fast on a fast flat course.  Once I hat the 6 mile mark, I'd like to let loose a little bit and finish strong.  I'll be very disappointed to finish anything over 2 hours, and I have a stretch goal of 2:55 but I won't be terribly disappointed if I don't get there.

I'll post after the race.