Alien Invasion *PR*

I can't believe it has taken me so long to write this entry, because I was so proud of myself. Remember how I had a goal of 2:45 back in September when I ran the Diva half marathon? But ended up with the same time as my previous time (3:02). This time, I decided to set a more reasonable goal of 2:55. I thought that was pretty reasonable considering it was much cooler out. 

I have some...I guess you could call them complaints about this race. First of all, it started out as a trail run. Now, I am not necessarily opposed to running on a trail, but it was also a night run. Then throw in the factor that this course had several out-and-backs. So for the first 3 miles, we were in the dark running thru the woods with people running at us.

I started out doing 3/1 intervals and if felt pretty good. But about half way in, I noticed that I was kind of running with the 2:45 pace group. They were doing 2/1 intervals so I decided to ignore my watch and stick with them. It was great!

I think the pace leaders run pace was just a touch fater than mine but it was only for 2 minutes so it was okay.

Speaking of pace leaders, I asked some questions about how they got to be pace group leaders and how you got assinged, etc. Apparently you are assigned to a time about 30 minutes slower than your normal pace. 

Around mile 9, they noticed that we were ahead of schedule so they tried to slow us down. We took a couple of extra walk breaks and slowed down the pace. But at mile 12 we were still ahead. the leaders said they were going to slow it down even more but if we had an gas in us we should go for it. So I did. I went back to listening to my watch and continued the pace we had been doing, and I finished with 2:41:29. 14 minutes faster than my goal and about 20 minutes faster than my previous half. 

Despite being proud of myself, I was reminded that I am a back of the pack runner when I discovered that they were out of muscle milk, bananas, coconut water, etc. (Everything but water). This is my other complaint. I realize that this isn't necessarily the race directors fault. Number one, people often take more than they should. Some runners take multiple items home with them and some spectators take items. I also felt like the items may have been brought by vendors who did not necessarily bring enough for every runner. I don't mean to blame anyone; it is just kind of disappointing to finish and not have some sort of fuel. That being said, I had some turkey jerky in the car and there was a QT around the corner. So I was fine.

After I finished, I had about a quarter mile walk to my car. It felt like a long walk. My muscles felt sore and tight. The drive from Roswell to Lawrencveille felt really long too.

But I had a good night rest and felt fine the next day.