Lucky Run Half Marathon Race Recap!

After running for the Surf City Half Marathon in early February as a training run, I searched for a reasonably priced, fun looking half marathon to run a little later so I'd have more time to train.

Enter....THE LUCKY RUN!!  

source

It was in Davis, CA, which was not too inconvenient because Anthony's family lives nearby and he works close by during the week.  It's also at 8 AM which is awesomely late for a half marathon and has day-of packet pickup!  Even better, I found out that Page was registered.  I randomly emailed RoseRunner as well to see if she wanted to come out and run a few miles with me, and...she decided she would come out and run!  Awesome.

My training has been going decently, but I haven't really raced since July (not counting the crappy California International Marathon race), and I haven't been feeling confident at all.  The night before the race I was fantasizing about shutting down the blog, never racing again, etc etc.   Granted, I usually get really nervous / morose before races in general, but it's been worse than usual lately.  I also have been seriously questioning whether it makes sense for me to devote so much time to a hobby.   But, I figured there was no way I could duck out of the race the night before, with Page and Caitlin coming out.

The morning of, I woke up and drove out in Anthony's giant SUV out to Davis.  It was perfect weather for a race:  Sunny and Cool.  

The race is pretty small, so parking was easy.  Caitlin texted me and said she was 20 minutes away and I got my packet.  Before I knew it, I saw Caitlin and she yelled something like "Bunny!".  Honestly it was a funny experience because I'd imagined her to be like six feet tall...and she is totally not!   Normal height!   I told her I really wasn't feeling racing and was hoping we could just run 7:30s.  We lined up and then ran into Page!  (She actually is really tall!  Also surprising!).  It's always so funny to meet blog friends for the first time because I always feel like hugging and acting like we've known each other forever is totally appropriate.  I was really excited to meet Page because she was one of the first running blogs I ever read and very excited to meet Caitlin because come on...it's RoseRunner...

And we were off!  Surprisingly, I felt pretty good.

Mile 1:  7:25

Mile 2: 7:20

Mile 3: 7:19

For the first three miles, Page and RR were chatting like they were running 9 minute miles.  It was amazing!

Mile 4: 7:16

At this point, I started feeling a little mentally defeated.  I considered asking the girls if we could just run 8:30s.  Then I decided to suck it up.

Mile 5: 7:26

Mile 6: 7:21

Heyyoooo...halfway done!

Mile 7 : 7:18

Mile 8 : 7:17

At this point, Caitlin and Page stopped to use the bathroom.  I didn't wait up, figuring that both of those girls are so fast, they could catch up to me no problem.  And they did!

Mile 9: 7:20

Mile 10: 7:29

I hear the girls yelling at me from like 20 yards back.  I turn around and felt so relieved to see them!  I was really excited that they would be there to finish with me and we could push each other to the finish.   (ok...they would push me, not vice versa!).

Mile 11: 7:11

Roserunner starts putting the pace into high gear.  She says that none of us are getting 5 yards from her.  I try to keep up.

Mile 12: 7:10

Page says "Where the eff is the mile 12 marker??".  I grunt in agreement.  Words weren't really an option at this point for me.

Mile 13: 7:18

Page sprints ahead, and Roserunner loops back to finish with me.  Almost there!

Extra Point 1 - no idea.  My mile splits were pretty far from the mile markers and I forgot to stop my garmin anyways!

Final Time / Place:    1:36:47.  11th Female, 2nd in 30-34 age group.  
(of course I was really the 12th female because RR let me ahead of her by like .2 of a second).  
7:23 pace. 

After we caught our breath, we walked around together, pet Page's cute dog, drank small beer samples (Like 2 ounces, WHY SO SMALL???), and ate free powerbars.

And of course...took pictures:  (credit Page)

And more pictures...

(Roserunner and Page share the 3rd place in 25-29 AG prize!)

Final thoughts:  

Ok.  I know this is no PR.  BUT I am really happy with this race.  It was ridiculously fun and honestly kind of a privilege to run with such fast girls.  They were so encouraging and I thought it was hilarious that they were able to hold a conversation almost the whole race.  I know that I finished faster because they ran with me.  

I also felt like I might have had something left at the end and have felt pretty good post-race which isn't exactly a good thing when you race but it makes me hopeful for my future ability.  As I mentioned before, I have felt so down on running this year, and even one mile at my half marathon pace sounds fast to me.  So it felt good to run a respectable time (for me) and I now have hope that I might have a PR in my future if I work hard or get really.....lucky.