Well, I went and did it again – I signed up for another 1/2 marathon at the end of October.
But really, how could I not sign up for a race that looks as awesome as this?
The idea of a zombie-themed 1/2 marathon was just too good for me to pass up! Plus, I figure it will be a good way for me to make sure that I keep up with my training so I can really rock it out of the park in Vegas!
One thing that’s interesting to note about the difference between the Vegas race and this one, is that the registration for Vegas was $145, and the registration for the zombie race – $25. That’s just how we roll in Alaska 🙂
Even after running just one 1/2 marathon, I can already tell that I really like running that distance for a race. I know that a full marathon is definitely in my future, but that’s a much more difficult and time consuming race to train for, especially while trying to balance family life. For a while I thought very seriously about running the full marathon in Vegas, but ultimately decided against it. Primarily because I’m not sure how well training is going to go for me during the winter up here. Running outside is simply not an option most of the winter. We do have a treadmill at home, but I have my doubts about how well that really approximates running outside, and how well I would be able to run a race where my training was done almost entirely indoors on a treadmill.
Instead, I’ve set my sights on a full marathon here in Anchorage next June. For the time being, I’ll enjoy being a 1/2 marathon maniac!
Now I just have to come up with a good costume 🙂
In the recap of my first 1/2 marathon, I mentioned that by the end, I could definitely feel myself running out of fuel in the tank. I decided that I needed to start experimenting with different ways of fueling my long runs, so that something like that doesn’t happen again, and I’m able to keep going strong through the entire race.
This post is the first in a series where I’ll document my experience trying different running fuels. First up are Clif Shot Bloks, which came highly recommended by several runners, so I was eager to give them a try.
Friday afternoon I set out for a 10 mile run, and so I thought it would be a perfect opportunity to try the Clif Shot Bloks. They come in a long narrow package with 6 Bloks, which makes it pretty easy to ration out and spread through your run (I ate 5 over the course of 10 miles). Each of the Bloks are a decent size, but also quite soft and chewy, so they were easy to eat while continuing to run. I’ve tried a couple of different energy bars in the past, and found them difficult to chew while running and breathing hard. This was definitely not the case with the Shot Bloks.
They may not look too big here, but keep in mind that I have pretty large hands 🙂
The Shot Bloks come in a number of different flavors – the ones I tried were Mountain Berry, which were pretty darn tasty, kind of like a giant gummy bear blob! In my past life, I probably would have just snacked away on these babies all afternoon on the couch watching TV. They are 33 calories each, so it’s easy to ration them out and customize to your workout / personal needs.
Now for the burning question – how well did they fuel my run? I realize there are a lot of factors that effect how well you run, how tired you get, how wiped out you feel afterward, etc., but I sure felt a heckuva lot better after this run than on past runs of a similar distance. I ate one Shot Blok right before I left for my run, and then 4 more spaced out pretty evenly throughout my run. I felt pretty strong the whole way through, even on some of the bigger hills, and when I was done with the 10 miles, I definitely felt like I could have kept going for more!
I’m going to keep trying other fuels/gu/gels just to be able to compare them all, but right off the bat, I’d have to say that I’m pretty in love with the Clif Shot Bloks.
What do you use to fuel your longer runs? Have you tried Clif Shot Bloks before? If so, how did you like them? Do you have any suggestions for what I should try next?
After many weeks of planning and training, yesterday I ran my first 1/2 Marathon. As I wrote in my preview post, my realistic goal time was 2:10. My “dream” time was to finish in under 2 hours, which I knew was a bit of a stretch, but figured it could be doable if everything was clicking for me and I was “in the zone”. But again, since it was my first 1/2 Marathon, I really tried to not put too much pressure on myself to have a great race, and instead just go out there and have fun and enjoy the whole experience.
First, a Note on the Event, Volunteers, etc.
Considering that this was my first “big” race and that I don’t have anything to compare it to, I thought that this event was extremely well organized. There were aide stations every 2 miles or so with water and Gatorade, and there were volunteers everywhere. The course winds through a large trail system, where there are lots of branches and intersecting trails. There was a volunteer posted at every single fork in the trail where someone could possibly make a wrong turn. Every volunteer I saw was friendly and cheerful, clapping and cheering all the runners on. A big thank you goes out to all those wonderful people for helping to make it such an enjoyable event! And how can you not love a race with a course map like this?
Ok, on to the Race!
The race didn’t start until 9am, which gave me plenty of time to get a good night’s sleep, eat a light breakfast of oatmeal, and then head downtown to the start of the race. I got there about an hour before the start of the race, and had a chance to catch up with Sam of Operation Jack, who was in town to run the full marathon, which started at the same time/place as the half (if you’re interested, you can read Sam’s race recap here – spoiler alert: he LOVED the course and ran a great race!). This was his 38th Marathon this year, out of the 61 he’s got planned to raise awareness and money for autism. Sam was a really cool guy, and I wish I could have spent more time talking with him, but I’m glad he was able to make it up here and had such a great trip.
The first mile or so just kind of wound around downtown Anchorage until we made it down to the Coastal Trail, which – imagine that – follows the coast. My only real complaint about the 1/2 Marathon is that we actually don’t follow the Coastal Trail for very long (the full marathon follows it all the way out and back). At about mile 3, we branched off toward midtown. It was around here that I picked up my first water at an aide station, and learned my first lesson of running races – slow down when you’re trying to drink water/Gatorade from a small dixie cup. The first time around, I tried to just keep running full speed while I drank, and ended up spilling most of it down my front 🙂
From there we continued on mostly wooded trails until we hit the turnaround point around mile 7. When I hit the halfway point around 1:03, I knew a sub-2 hour finish was a long shot, so I just focused on running the best I could, not worrying quite so much about the actual time. At this point I was still feeling pretty good. There were a few points where my breathing kind of got away from me and I really had to concentrate on taking long, deep breaths to get it back under control.
Somewhere around this point I also had a bit of a celebrity sighting (at least a celebrity as far as Alaska goes – and no, I’m not talking about her) On my way inbound back towards downtown, I passed DeeDee Jonrowe on her way outbound to the turnaround. If you’re not from Alaska, you probably have no idea who DeeDee Jonrowe is, but she is one of the most famous Iditarod mushers in the state, holding the fastest time record for a woman. In 2003, she completed the 1,049 mile race just 3 weeks after completing chemotherapy for breast cancer. In other words, she’s one badass chick, and it was kind of a rush seeing her out running the same race as me.
Somewhere around mile 8 or 9 I could definitely feel myself starting to lose steam. My legs were still feeling good, and my feet and ankles weren’t bothering me at all, but I was simply just running out of fuel in the tank. It was around here that I saw a guy holding up a sign that read “If everyone could do it, they’d call it a 5k”. At first, I kind of chuckled a bit, but as I continued on running and thought more about it, it actually kind of pissed me off. Sure, a 1/2 marathon is quite a bit more difficult of a run than a 5k, but that doesn’t mean we should be diminishing the accomplishments of those running a 5k. It wasn’t all that long ago that I couldn’t run a 5k myself, so I know all-too-well how much of an accomplishment being able to run a 5k is. But I digress…
By around mile 11, I was pretty much running on fumes, but I knew I was getting close to the end, so I just kept putting one foot in front of the other. Within about 1/2 mile of the finish, there was one last big hill that just about did me in, but I continued to run up the entire thing, however slow it may have been. Just after reaching the top of the hill, a group of us actually got stopped by a cop that was directing traffic and needed to let a fire truck through. This held us up for probably 30-60 seconds, but the short break may have actually been a bit of a blessing after having just run up that last big hill. The cop was very nice about the whole thing, apologizing several times and saying that they would get us going again as soon as possible.
Almost done - running down the home stretch!Shortly after the fire truck got through and we started running again, we turned a corner and the finish line was in sight within about 1/4 mile. At this point, a huge sense of elation came over me, knowing that I was all but done at this point. I could hear lots of people cheering and screaming at the finish line, and even though I didn’t have much left in me at this point, I picked it up and finished strong. Shortly before the finish line, I spotted my wife and kids cheering me on, and there even happened to be a few other people I knew in the crowd that I heard shouting out my name, which was a pretty amazing feeling.
After the race with my medal, happy to have my first 1/2 marathon under my belt!In the end, just 19 weeks after stepping out the door for my first run ever, I finished my first 1/2 Marathon in 2:06:09.  I may not have made my “dream” time, but I was extremely happy with how I did. And like I’ve said before – the best thing about your first race is that it’s always a PR 🙂
Update: I just looked up my official chip time from the race, which takes an extra 17 seconds off my time – 2:05:52 🙂
Well, the time has finally come – this is the weekend of the Skinny Raven 1/2 Marathon. I’m actually feeling pretty good about the whole thing at this point. My longest run so far has been 12 miles, so (barring any injuries) I’m not too worried about actually being able to run the entire 13.1 miles, it’s just going to be a matter of how long it takes me.
I’ve run parts of the course at different times, but not the whole thing, so I know at least somewhat what to expect in terms of hills and all that. It’s a relatively flat course along the Coastal Trail in Anchorage. About 3 miles in, the 1/2 Marathon veers off towards midtown, and then turns around near the University, while the full Marathon continues out to the very end of the Coastal Trail and back.
Estimating My Finish Time
Based on my recent runs, I’m hoping to finish in just over 2 hours, probably about 2:10. My super-duper-I’d-be-so-happy-if-I-actually-did-it goal would be to finish in under 2 hours, which I think is doable for me, but I’ll definitely have to be “in the zone” for it to happen. It’s my first 1/2 Marathon, so I’m really not putting too much pressure on myself to have an amazing race, just to finish and have a good time.
I’m also hoping to have a chance to meet Sam from Operation Jack, who’s going to be in town to run the full marathon. If you’re not familiar with Operation Jack, Sam is running 61 marathons this year to help raise money and awareness for autism (his son, Jack, has autism). It’s a great cause, and I am immensely impressed by anyone who can run a marathon every freaking weekend (and then some) – for an entire year.
My High School Reunion
Because of my awesome scheduling abilities, I scheduled my first 1/2 Marathon on the same day as my 10 year high school reunion. I am literally going to have just enough time to run the race, go home to shower and change, and then head straight to the reunion. I actually did realize this when I signed up for the race, but since they’re pretty few and far between up here, I had to take what I could get.
I’m not one of those people who looks back on high school as if they were the best days of my life. For the most part, I’ve kept in touch with all the people I was friends with and cared about. But there are also a number of my friends who immediately moved out of state after graduation. While I’ve kept in touch with them, I haven’t actually seen them in 10 years – so there are at least a few people that I’m looking forward to seeing at this reunion.
Do you have any big plans for this weekend? Did you go to your own high school reunion?
In a relatively short amount of time, I’ve definitely been caught by the running bug! I love the way it makes me feel, and I know that’s it’s definitely been a big factor in my continued weight loss.
The running has been going so well in fact, that a few weeks ago my wife decided to get in on the action too! She’s currently finishing up week 4 of Couch to 5k, and I couldn’t be more proud of her! Up until just recently, she’s been doing all of her running indoors on the treadmill, because she was embarrassed to run outside where other people might see her. Lately she had been complaining a bit about how boring it was running on the treadmill, and I suggested that she give running outside a try. She said she would do it, but only if I went with her for support – and of course I said YES!
So for the past week, we’ve run together for each of her Couch to 5k runs, with me pushing the jogging stroller with our 2 kiddos. My wife says she has enjoyed running outside much more than she did running inside on the treadmill, and I can’t blame her! I have really enjoyed doing something healthy like this together as a family, and setting a great example of healthy, active living for our kids.
Even if they’re too young at this point to really “get” it, simply setting a good example from an early age, and having them grow up in an environment where being healthy and active together as a family are the norm will hopefully help set them on a healthy path as they get older.
