Half Marathon - The Saratoga Palio

Headed down to the start from our car. It was chilly! I didn't really need those gloves once I got going but I did absolutely love running in my new LuluLemon tights. I am a convert now. I got some gear from my brother, his girlfriend (who is also a runner) and my dad for my birthday and damn, I cant deny it anymore, they are pretty nice. Darn you lulu! I should have worn the tank they got me too but I thought it was too cold when I left the house.

About 3 miles in, about to throw my gloves to Torrey.

Yesterday I ran a half marathon in my home town. While out on the course, that I loved, I couldn't help but think, "I have run these roads for 17 years". Can you believe it? My first race in the new age group of 30+ was fitting to be in my home town on those familiar roads. I started running in 1997 at the age of 13 for my high school Cross Country and Track teams. I didn't know when I joined that they also happened to be the best Cross Country team in the NATION. For real, no joke. I ran smart, fast and consistently on that team and still have those times as my PR (personal records). Thanks to wonderful dedicated coaches and great teammates its some of the best memories I have of my youth. So running in my hometown on a course that very closely resembled our 'long run' path was just great. The weather was perfect, a cool 50-60's, and it was a pretty big race with 1500+ people. I very highly recommend it. Here is some more info if you are interested. I will be back every year I can!

So the other day I stated how I am starting to work some speed work back into my training. I will say with just 3 weeks of some speed and higher intensity running I felt the results already yesterday. The first half of the race felt amazing. My legs were sharp and felt strong, something I haven't felt in a long time. It proved to me how much this new training was working already. I was a little tuckered out the last few miles but managed to pull it in and run 1:40 flat. You may remember I thought that was my time during the half marathon I did in May but I think it was more like 1:43 so this was an improvement. And I definitely FELT so much better and that was by far worth it. I bumped into some old teammates the first mile that just put me in a good mood and there were always people to run with. Because of where I started I was passing people the first half or so and that also made me feel fast and boosted my confidence. That's the thing, I know I am not running super fast for me or even at my full potential but I am so happy with how this race went. Its all about perspective. To have a race that felt good and felt strong was so wonderful and just what I needed for my training.

Coming out of it I have a body observation though. My right IT band and left hamstring were a bit tender during the race. Maybe because of my speed but more likely the result of not enough core strengthening and stretching. So that will be a new focus. Having a baby changes your pelvis and alignment not to mention pretty much sucks the core strength from your body. I haven't done enough since having Wes to get it in strong working order and I know that. If I want to continue to increase my speed and intensity and NOT get injured I have to pay attention to what my body is telling me now.

Anyways... it was a great race and I think Torrey and I have our sights set on a speedy Turkey Trot this year. Maybe that 22/21 min 5k will be sooner than I thought.

Here are the splits... man if I could have only run those 7:27's the whole race...
Plus my Garmin had the race a little longer than they did at 13.21 so it looks like I did run the 13.1 under 1:40 afterall ;)

I came in 11th for my new age group of 30-34 women. There are some speedy runners at this race! The winning male got 1:07 thats a 5:10 average pace and the winning female was 8th overall with a 1:16 a 5:51 average mile pace. Phew, speedy!