It’s already been a week since we finished the Denver Rock n Roll half marathon! This was my second time doing this race and Shane’s first. I’m not going to lie, I knew that I could complete the race but I wasn’t sure how pretty it would be since my training wasn’t exactly amazing. I had a more positive attitude going into this race than I do for most and I didn’t have even a minute of nerves which is pretty much unheard of for me.
Shane and I weren’t planning to stay together since we both have a tendency to get frustrated when the other is feeling stronger but I had thought we would at least start together. Unfortunately Shane had to make one last bathroom stop on the way to the start and due to the rolling start, he wasn’t able to find me before we were off.
I started off feeling great, apparently running without a pregnant belly or a jogging stroller with a baby is much easier. I had to keep telling myself to slow down otherwise I knew that I would regret it later (I tell myself this every race and I have yet to listen). The first 4 miles flew by and I started to have dreams of a much speedier time than anticipated. I ran into some friends just before mile 6 and I stayed with them for a little before we reached the biggest (I think?) hill of the course. I was feeling strong so I pushed myself to power up to the top and looking back on the race, I’m pretty sure that was my undoing.
I’ve gone over the race a few times in my head since last week and I’ve come to the conclusion that I was well-trained for a 10K but I probably had no business doing the half marathon. I don’t regret doing it but I felt like I was pushing myself to an appropriate extent up until the 10K mark and just running on fumes for the rest of the race. This was by far my slowest 13.1 time but my only goal for this race was to finish so I wasn’t too disappointed. I’m glad that I pushed through and finished but I have definitely been taking some time to think about my goals and how to properly train for them in the future.
To this day, I’m not sure how I completed anything after mile 9 but I’m pretty sure that this little face had something to do with it 
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I remember repeating to myself, “I want that medal and I want to see Kelly.” The thought of seeing that cute baby at the finish line definitely kept me motivated even when I was hurting more than any race I’ve done before.
I’m really glad that we did this race and I’m even more glad that I don’t have any half marathons coming up on my calendar. My plan for now is to focus on the 10K distance and once I feel comfortable there, reevaluate. I know that I want to do another half marathon but right now I need to work on my endurance and overall fitness. If I do this course again, I need to do a little work on my mental toughness since there are a few down and backs that drive me nuts.
My mom was nice enough to come over at 5:30 am to watch Kelly and then she and my dad drove down to meet us at the finish line. They even held the sign that Kelly made to help cheer us on.
Kelly and my dad
They got a picture of Shane at mile 13
And then they watched him sprint to the finish line
Post-race with the cutest fan before limping back up the hill to our car.
After a week of reflection, I think this race taught me a good lesson and helped me get back some of my competitive juices. I am a fan of Rock n Roll races even though this course is not my favorite (way too many switchbacks in City Park, which is something I will train for in the future because those miles are tough mentally for me). I would say this race was pretty well organized, although the mile 11 marker seemed to be missing (I confirmed this with some other runners). My RunKeeper was off for most of the race which was a little frustrating but the course was pretty well marked (minus mile 11). The expo was just okay, nothing special. I feel like I am always comparing the Denver race to the Chicago Rock n Roll because that was my favorite race (awesome expo, provided fuel for runners, and great after party) and Denver always seems to fall just a little short.
Now that I am walking normally again, I am excited for a couple Thanksgiving 5Ks that we have coming up!
Questions:
What is the most important part of training for you (hills, mental, pace)?
When I started running more seriously, it was important that I felt confident that I could physically go that far. Now I want to take training a bit more seriously and really improve on my weaknesses.
Do you have any races coming up?
