Austin Half Marathon - Happy Valentine's!

Happy Valentine's Day!

My friends and I started the day off with the Austin half marathon. It was a warm day for a race; at 7am it was 58 degrees, cloudy, 9 mph winds and 88% humidity, by 9am it would be 61 degrees and 11 mph winds. I wore a hat, shorts, tank top and my hydration vest. I brought my sun glasses but really didn't need them since it was overcast the entire run. Thank god for the overcast skies and wind (the wind had a nice chill to it), that actually made it bearable. If it had been full sun that would have truly been miserable.

Jenn picked me up by 5:30am to head downtown, we picked up Moni on the way down as well.  We found excellent parking just a stones throw away from the start line.  We hit up the potties one last time before getting into line.  Since this was a last min race for me and I was running for a friend, I really didn't stress too much about it.  Heck, I even forgot to stretch before the race started!

Feelin' the love!

The first couple miles were a false flat.  I forgot how hilly Austin really is as this was only my 2nd time running this race!  At least miles 6-8 were nice and flat.  However, Enfield was especially tough will the rolling hills and THE killer HILL at mile 12.  The course changed since the last time I ran it, before the killer hill was at mile 10, this time it was much later.  I actually didn't mind because once that hill was over I knew there was only 1 mile left!  Overall I felt fine, never overheated nor felt like I was dying, I maintained a pretty decent pace considering I was SOOO ready for the running season to be over (burnt out since my marathon in Jan).

I did land a PR for this course at 2:01:33, beating my time from 2012 of 2:06:54. Next year I'll tackle the ADC (Austin Distance Challenge) and my goal will be to finish in 2 hours or less!

My legs (especially thighs) were extremely sore for a couple of days, plus my lower back was in pain right after the race. Thankfully taking some ibuprofen and a nap (laying down helped decompress my lower back) fixed me right up.

Chip time - 2:01:33, 9:17 pace in 13.1 miles (ran under a friends bib 12300)
Avg pace - 9:12 per my Garmin, actually ran 13.22 miles
9:16
9:28 (false flat)
9:09
8:45
8:34
8:48 (flat miles 6-8)
9:07
9:18
9:44 (never ending hills...)
9:32
9:25
9:22 (killer hill, THE hill)
9:22
last 0.22 - 1:44 (7:56 pace)

Race prep:
What I ate:  I drank 3 beers the day before and had spaghetti for dinner.  Breakfast the day of the race was 1 piece of toast with peanut butter and water.  I ate a Gu every 5 miles during the race and one Gu 10 mins before the race started.  I had my hydration vest so I didn't have to stop at any water stops.
What I wore:  Lulu shorts w/ side pockets, lulu tank top w/ built in bra, Garmin watch, fitbit, hat, glasses, hydration vest, Brooks Glycerin shoes (sz 9.5), spenco earthbound insoles, wrightsocks double layer.
Other items I carried:  Cell phone, 3 Gu's, mp3 player.