This morning at 5:45 AM, 98.6 was a very significant number. It meant that I could run the Chilly Half Marathon! Wahoo!! 
If I had a fever at all when I woke up, I wasn’t going to run it, but my temperature was normal and I felt a million times better.
Breakfast
Mal and I sort of dillydallied this morning, so we took breakfast to go. We had our usual pre-run food: peanut butter + banana and iced coffee with soy milk.
I had mine on raisin bread this morning.
For today’s race, I tried fruit-flavored Gu. After many unsuccessful attempts with “chewy” fuel, I decided that Gu is the way to go for me. It’s much easier for me to eat while running. It still takes me a little while, but I don’t have to slow my running pace too much in order to eat it.
Gu is easy to eat and pretty tasty (I really liked the Lemon Sublime flavor), but I’m not a fan of the sticky aftertaste in my mouth. I planned to take my Gu before a couple of the water stops, so I could wash-out my mouth. It worked well.
The half marathon course was super hilly! Holy moly!! I was not mentally prepared for it, but it was a really pretty run through Newton and Chestnut Hill. We even ran down infamous Heartbreak Hill! š
Overall, I felt good on today’s run. There were moments when I felt sort of crappy and my legs felt like they wouldn’t move, but I managed to push through for a PR of under 2 hours! (I ran my first half marathon in 2:06:04, so I crushed it this morning!)
The race had a gun start and a chip finish, so I used my Garmin to track my time. I was actually in the line for the bathroom when the gun went off, so I was definitely a couple of minutes behind the official clock.
- Mile 1: 8:58
- Mile 2: 8:50
- Mile 3: 9:04
- Mile 4: 8:42
- Mile 5: 9:03
- Mile 6: 9:26 <— Gu #1
- Mile 7: 9:32 <— Holy hills!!! šÆ
- Mile 8: 9:15
- Mile 9: 8:52
- Mile 10: 9:03 <— Gu #2
- Mile 11: 9:11
- Mile 12: 9:10
- Mile 13: 8:43
Total: 1:58:01
I realize that the distance on my Garmin isn’t quite 13.1 miles, but I guess the course was a little short? Even still, I accomplished my goal of running a half marathon in under two hours and that’s all that matters to me!
My speed demon husband finished in 1:27:37. Um, yea, he’s FAST!Ā HeĀ placed 20th out of 904 runners! Impressive, right? I’m so proud of him!
Time for a shower and second breakfast!
Happy Sunday! š
78 Comments
I’m glad you were well enough to run the race!!
The GUs are great. They are my favorite for long bike rides and long runs. I used them for Hood to Coast too, and liked them better than any chews.
Congrats to you both! And what awesome speedy times š
Congrats on the PR! It was a great day for the race so I am glad you felt better to run it. What a true challenge the course was between miles 5-7, did you think those hills would ever end? I kept thinking whew I made it just to turn the corner to see another one….yikes. Congrats again. š
That is a super-impressive strong finish! way to go, speeding it up in the last mile!
Congratulations on your running time!! That’s awesome that you finished in under 2 hours. =) And Mal is crazy!
YAY speed demons! You and Mal rock.
I saw your tweet this morning and thought, how the heck did she run a half after being so sick yesterday?! So, SO happy for you!! Congrats, lady š
1:27! holy moly!! you ran super fast too! thats awesome, way to go!!!
I can’t wait to run a half! I’m so glad you were well enough to do it. And you PR’d. Such a great end to the weekend.
I’m so glad you were well enough to run! Congrats on such a great race, and on smashing your PB!! š And well done to Mal too, as 1:27 and 20/904 is SO amazing!!
Great job on the race today and running a PR!!
Congrats to both of you! I was at the finish line for a while but I must have missed you come in. It was tougher than I thought it would be as well, but the amazing weather helped!
wow! it’s so cool how you can really see the gu working; the two miles following your gus your time went down! Cool! Great job, girl! Glad you are feeling better (AND dominating races!)
That’s awesome you were feeling well enough to run! And you ran fast too! Congrats on setting a PR! š
Congrats on your PR!! I recently PRed in my 2nd half marathon as well!!
Congratulations!!! You’re such a trooper – hope you had an amazing day after this!
Congrats Tina!
Woo-hoo! So glad to hear it went well and that you’re feeling better!
Congrats on the PR!
wow congrats to you and mal! that is a great accomplishment!
Congrats on the PR!
I don’t know how Garmin tracks distance, but my last 10k was off by about .4km with RunKeeper GPS tracking, and the only reason I could come up with was that the GPS wasn’t able to take the hills into consideration when calculating total distance (it was a course with a pretty steep elevation climb). Could that be a factor?
Running a half in less than two hours is still on my goal list… Congrats to you!
I saw your next-morning post, so I’m sorry that you’re not feeling 100%, but it sounds like it was still worth it!
Wow, congrats Tina. You’re getting so speedy!! š
Oh and yeah – Mal is ridiculous. In a good way š
Congrats Tina!! And wow at Mal’s time! You guys definitely rocked it out!
Have you ever thought about peanut butter during runs? Justin’s and PB & Co. make squeeze packs of peanut butter (perfect size of 1-2 oz) that are about the same size as gel packs. I know some cyclists love them!
Congrats! Accomplishing your goals is always the best!!! Tina, you should try to sign up for the NYC half marathon in March some year…it is the best half I have ever run! There are some hills, because the 1st half is in central park, but then you run through Time Square! It was amazing…who gets to run through Time Square with no cars?! So fun!
Great job Tina!!! Congrats on a pr! and way to go Mal!!!!!!
I am so happy for you Tina. I used to read stories like yours and scoff because I just couldn’t relate, which was actually just fear that I couldn’t accomplish the kind of lifestyle that you have. Now I feel the opposite. I feel that anything is possible, and I will use your experiences as more feul for my fire. I am running my first race (10 K) Thanksgiving Day, and I now believe that I will be able to run a half marathon and then a marathon eventually. Running is so mental, and such a metaphor for life.
I am so incredibly grateful that I have found your blog, and for my journey to continue alongside yours.