Wenatchee Half Marathon

Last night I headed across the pass to Wenatchee to run a half marathon this morning. Kainoa wanted me to run a half marathon as part of my training and this one worked out well with my training - all last week was a recovery week so I actually got to rest up a bit and have some energy to see where I am at.. It was just going to me running but luckily Hallie and Greg decided it would be a perfect weekend to head east to the sunny weather to train and Greg ran the half with me which made it so much more fun.
Ok so the race... I got a hotel room literally a block away from the start which was awesome. When I went down to get my race packet at 6:30a it was already getting warm so I stopped second guessing and went with out arm warmers and just ran in a tank top and running skirt and I would still overheat...
I met Greg at the start at 7:30a and we did a warm up run. Hallie met up with us after she found Tika who went exploring and was luckily found quickly. She made sure to take a quick picture to show our team involvement.


My race plan was to start out around 8 min/mile pace and depending on how I felt I would try and run negatives the second half or at least the last couple miles. I had my nutrition plan that I use at most races - I took sport legs and a salt pill since it was so warm. Then I usually eat a gu at teh start and every 3 miles (mile 4, 7, & 10). I ran with my hand bottle since it is easier to actually drink out of then cups (and at this point it feels weird to run with out it). Seemed doable based on where I have been in training.

It was obvious this was a low key race when they were setting up the timing mats less than 5 min before the start. Greg and I knew better than to start on the front line so we hung back a couple rows. Once the "gun" went off it only took a couple seconds to cross the mat and we were off.
The first mile felt way to easy I just ran and did not look at my garmin... Mile two was similar even with a few small uphills. It was not till mile 3 that I realized my heart rate was already up at 189 bpm when I usually race mostly at 181 bpm and only hit that high going for the finish line. ouch! and I realized I completely messed up my race plan. I also looked at my average pace which was 7:45 at that point. My focus immediately went to get your heart rate down.
It would have been a lot easier to recover from going out to fast if the rest of the course was not constant up and down hills. So at this point I ate a gu at 3.5 instead of 4 mile mark and I was already getting really warm. It is so much dryer on the east side of the mountains that my mouth felt constantly dry even if I just drank.
I did not really know the course so I just tried to keep my heart rate around 181bpm and just stick to my nutrition plan through the rest of the race. I kept drinking from my hand bottle and tossing water on my head to try and cool off. At one of the water stations I took a cup of "sports drink". Within the next mile my stomach started to feel upset and sloshy...

At the turn around Greg was only a minute or two behind me and he looked strong so I fully expected him to pass me at any time. Sure enough around mile 9 or so he passed me. I tried to stay with him for about a mile but he ran so strong up the hills and by mile 10 I let him go. My stomach was really upset and I tried to burp or something but instead wound up throwing up. At least my stomach felt better almost immediately after and I just kept going. I even managed to eat my gu a little while after and it felt fine.
At this point I knew the last couple miles back were mostly uphill so I kind of just tried to keep Greg in sight and finish as strong as I could. I mean it is just a couple miles...
So I ran the last bit and then up and over the bridge to the finish and I was done.

The stats:
Gun time - 01:52:28
Chip time - 01:52:21
Pace - 00:08:35
Age group F2529 - 9/55
Average heartrate 184 bpm, Max 191 bpm

Garmin mile splits (13.24 miles)
1 - 7:14, 2 - 7:48, 3 - 8:00, 4 - 8:09, 5 - 8:40, 6 - 8:21, 7 - 8:15, 8 - 8:55, 9 - 8:25, 10 - 8:57, 11 - 9:08, 12 - 8:49, 13 - 9:09, .24 - 2:36

The red line is my heart rate and the green is the elevation.



Overall I am content with my effort and it was great training race to remind me to pay way more attention at the beginning of the race to actually fallow my race plan and not go out to fast. I did not ever think I could run a 7:15 m/mi right now lol. Luckily after a swim and bike ride I am much better at pacing myself ;) I also loved how low key the race was and it had a fun local feeling to it. It was perfect weather and now that I know the course I would even run it again. Sure there is not a lot of elevation change but really there is no flat - it is either up or down.