Race Recap: New England Half Marathon

I finally FINALLY FINALLY did it -> 1:39:44 half marathon!! Super proud of this one considering that I was fresh off the marathon 2 weeks prior. I knew that I had it in me and this race course is just beautiful (also the weather was totally PR weather). It feels so good to finally say that I ran sub 1:40 in the half. It’s been a goal of mine since 2020 and I FINALLY did it.

Unfortunately though, I did not take many photos. I can HOWEVER give you many details. I did my 500g carb-load the day before (using featherstone nutrition’s carb calculator). I’ve done many carb loads at this point, so I kinda already know what I like to eat before races and what works best for me. Some of my favorites include: bagels (my stomach isn’t overly sensitive so I did cinnamon raisin and sesame), pretzels, grapes, bananas, gatorade, pasta, tart cherry juice, and swedish fish.

I’ve been wanting to do this race for years, but I’ve always had to work, so I was super excited when I signed up for it months ago (gotta plan FAR in advance when you’re a nurse)! The plan was to have Alex, my mom, and the girls drive down to catch my finish and I drove down early by myself. The drive to the race was around an hour. I arrived in Concord around 6:40am, parked super close to the finish line/ where the buses were picking us up, grabbed a porta potty, and got on a bus. Thank goodness for my NYC finishers poncho again saving my butt (it was in the 30s at the start line). I initially thought that this was going to be the time when we got lost on our bus, but thankfully someone knew where to go and directed the bus driver. I love local races and this one had a total small town /new england vibe. I got to the start line around 7:15, used a porta potty again (this race had the MOST I’ve ever seen and my wait time was very little- thank you Millenium Running), decided to drop my bag, and then did some strides/warmed up. The views at the start line were UNREAL.

When we started, I honestly had no idea where to pace myself. I knew that I could do a sub 1:40, but I also had no idea how the overall course was laid out. I knew that there were some hills at mile 4 and 8-9, but otherwise I was just going with the flow. I took a Maurten 15 mintues before the start, a GU caffeine gel at 25 minutes, Maurten gel at 50 minutes, and GU caffeinated 75 minutes. I had about half of my Maurten at 90 minutes. I carried a 12 oz scratch with me (thankfully to miss the water stops), but think I could’ve hydrated better throughout the race-I had about half left when I finished.

For the first few miles (all basically downhill), I stayed conservative and an easy effort. I found a runner pacing her friend and they were running around 7:30s- which felt good to me. My first half splits were: 7:26, 7:07, 7:44 (hill), 8:01 (hill), 7:44, 7:14. I still felt good at this point, so decided to speed it up just a bit.

I powered up the final ‘big’ hill (which I LOVE how they had someone at the top of the hill with a microphone )- my splits for miles 7-10 were: 7:24, 7:44, 7:47, 8:01. Around mile 10 we switched to the bike path and it was all gravel. That was a tough part because there were so many rocks and roots to watch out for- I kept thinking ‘I cannot trip here’.

After I got back on the roads, I knew by runners math that I could finally PR and get my sub 1:40. I felt good and started pushing it a bit to make sure I didn’t have a repeat of my half earlier in the year (missing my goal by 10 seconds!!). My final splits were 7:32, 7:10, 7:17, and 6:35 for the final 0.1 miles. This finish was deceiving because I thought that we ran infront of the state house, but actually we ran a whole block around the backside (not so fun), but I did get to see my support crew around the back before I ran into the finishers shoot. I felt so good for most of the race (definitely had some tired legs and an achy hamstring by the finish), but honestly this gave me so much confidence that I could’ve gone even faster. Can’t wait to chase faster half PRs next year!

Half Marathon Tips

Let’s start with the most important thing that’s happening these days: the girls are three months old!

They’ve become super interested in everything around them, focusing on images and our faces, each other, and their giggles are the absolute cutest. It’s also really convenient that they have each other when I pop them on their play gym (bonus of having twins I suppose)! Both have officially doubled their weight and are growing out of clothes like crazy. I can’t wait to see how much they change and grow over the next few months. I also have one more month of maternity leave, so soaking it in the best I can.

Since racing season is upon us (and races are back!), I thought I’d put together some tips for running a half marathon. I’m BY NO MEANS an expert, so keep that in mind and am just sharing things that I’ve learned in the past (and drawing from many mistakes that I’ve made along the way):

Start slower than your ‘goal pace’. Maybe even a minute per mile slower than what you anticipate running the race at. Everyone goes faster at the beginning of races, so you’ll probably just be running your actual goal race pace if you start in a slower corral (if possible).

Have a few mantras and songs on your playlist that get you fired up. When the going gets tough (which it most likely will- normally miles 8 & 11 are the toughest for me), I like to draw upon positive mantras or pop a song on my playlist that makes me feel totally bada**. Macklemore or Eminem and my mantra of ‘attitude of gratitude’ normally do it for me.

Don’t forget to smile. Smiling relaxes your body and brings you happy endorphins. There’s nothing worse than doing something that you’re not enjoying. Try to enjoy the experience- even if it really is just a ‘fake it ‘til you make it’ sort of situation.

Do your training runs, but know it’s ok if bumps in the road happen. Be gentle on yourself if you have to skip a few runs, but stick to your training plan otherwise. Know that training runs build on each other, so skipping one isn’t a huge deal, but skipping several generally will lead to less-than-ideal situation. Also know that if your goal is to just finish and you’ve done 80-90% of your training runs, you’ll do great.

Don’t do anything new on race day. Yes, that includes new shoes, clothes, nutrition- any of these things can really hinder your race. Take it from someone who wore a sports bra that she hadn’t trained in before and finished the race with a terrible chafe that made showering in hot water nearly impossible.

Have fun and remember your WHY- Why’d you sign up for the race to begin with? Draw back on those initial feelings when it gets hard. Enjoy yourself and imagine how good it’s going to feel when you cross that finish line. Be your own cheerleader after each mile marker. And when it gets really tough, break down those miles into markers even smaller- maybe 1/2 mile or sometimes when it’s really challenging- I think about the next minute or tell myself to ‘just run through this song’ and then re-assess. It really is almost all mental when it comes to race day. It will go by so fast, so enjoying it and soaking in the experience really is the most important part.

-What tips do you have for someone running their first half marathon?

Training Rundown: 3/15-3/21

Humpday! I have a few days off before another 4-day work stretch, so am trying to savior the time off as much as possible. Last week I had a really long work week (was at the hospital everyday for 7 days straight), so training definitely took a backseat. I think I’ve gotten a lot better at stepping back from running when I recognize that I’ve got additional stress going on. It’s almost super important to realize and honor your body when you do have that additional stress (running and training is stress, but so is being on your feet at work all day). I’ve also gotten better at prioritizing sleep. Rather than getting up early to run/workout if I’m going to be getting less than 7 hours of sleep, I push my workout to later in the day. It’s no longer worth it (to me) to lack sleep or put additional stress on my body when I don’t really need to.

Monday, 3/15: 45 minutes easy & 30 minutes of yoga

Tuesday, 3/16: 10 min easy/ 4 x 7 min hard (3 min recovery)/ 10 min easy

Wednesday, 3/17: 1 hour easy & 35 minutes strength training

Thursday, 3/18: Rest Day

Friday, 3/19: 10 min up/ 20 minutes at 8:00; 5 at 9:00; 16 minutes at 8:00/ 6 minutes cool down and 30 minutes of strength. Finally got around to doing this run at 7pm (and did the run split-up between dinner). Sometimes, you just have to make it work. I immediately fell asleep on the couch at 9pm afterwards 😂

Saturday, 3/20: Rest Day again- saw a few potential homes (got out-bid on one that we put an offer on) & had lunch with Alex’s parents!

Sunday, 3/21: 4 mile walk outside & 1 hour of Pilates and yoga. Achilles felt a bit tight, decided to rest from a run and do extra stretching/ other stress-relieving activities

Total Mileage: 23.3 miles

Feature Friday: Why Racing Mindset Is So Important

Happy Friday! I picked up an overtime shift this week, so I worked last night (gotta save up for that house we’re trying to buy!) and am very much looking forward to lots of SLEEP this weekend. I recently hit my 2 year anniversary from running my strongest half marathon (not my PR) and wanted to share some tips that I learned from racing it (since hopefully we’ll get to race again REAL SOON!).

Mindset is 90% of race day. You’ve done the training, put in those longer runs, pushed your limits, and it’s now all in your head & heart to perform to your potential. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve raced and gotten into really terrible mindsets/ talked myself out of performing to the best of my ability. It’s the races where I’ve remained super positive and stuck on my goals that I’ve raced really well (for me).

It’s also much more challenging to keep your mind positive in longer races because you have more time to think (obviously). I still need to work on my mind during marathons, but feel like I’ve gotten much better at remaining positive in half marathons. The best 26.2s that I’ve had all included me smiling and enjoying the race basically the entire time.

I’d love to know what your favorite races were and WHY. Did you smile the entire time and what was your race mentality (did you even have one?)

Feature Friday: Why Take A Rest Day?

Happy Friday! This is basically like my Sunday, since I have to work for the next four days so I’m taking advantage of the day off and trying to get as many chores done as possible. I like to get all my meal prep and clothes laid out in the morning so I can have the rest of the day to do fun things (like running or reading)! My body is TIRED from my 19.5 mile long run yesterday, so I’m very much looking forward to my rest day tomorrow. I am NOT looking forward to losing an hour of precious sleep Sunday morning (since I already get very little sleep between my shifts), but it will be so nice for it to be lighter out later in the evenings. YAY for longer days ahead.

So, why are rest days important each week? They allow your body time to recovery, replenish, ‘fill its tank’ for the week ahead, and adapt to the previous weeks training load. If you never take rest days (I.e. very gentle movement), then you’re putting your body at an increased risk for injury or burn-out.

Everyone’s body is different, so some can run everyday of the year and never get injured, but it’s also important to recognize that they are probably also running at a wide range of speeds to give their body the necessary time it needs to adapt and get stronger. When we rest, our muscles rebuild the fibers that slowly get broken down during harder/longer training runs. I like to think of it as we’re stitching our body back together.

It’s good to get some movement in your body during rest days- like walking, yoga, light cycling, gentle stretching, or swimming to help stimulate the blood flow to your muscles (helps repair them faster), but listen to your body. Sometimes I really just need a day of total ‘nothingness’ and that’s OK! Over time, you’ll come to know your body better and be able to recover from your workouts more efficiently.

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—How do you like to spend your rest days?
-Favorite cross-training activity?