Half Marathon: #62

COVID-19, “The Rona Era”

I signed up to do this half before I was hurt to get ready for the Every Woman’s Marathon in Savannah. This race is a milestone towards my recovery process with the knee. On Thursday, Halloween I might have over did it. I had PT and went to Acupuncture. Friday and Saturday I made sure to rest my leg to get ready for Sunday.

This was my first half marathon since Pioneer’s Half Marathon this summer. I wasn’t sure what to expect since this was the first time that I ran this race. The Cambridge half had 10,000 runners, running at 7a.m. on a Sunday morning. It was cold. 38 degrees. I had to think about what to wear and what to bring. This was a good exercise for getting ready for the marathon. To be honest, I felt a bit out of practice. Plus I had to think about my knee situation since I am not 100%.

I was happy to see my running community peeps at the race. Live Fit Army, Heartbreakers, Trailblazhers, and of course my BGR ladies that ran the race too. . Since I have this knee pain, I”ve been advise to run intervals.

Run, walk, run, walk. On the interwebs I saw someone who ran a marathon in 6 hours using a 90 sec interval of walk/ run. I’ve never done intervals. The half was a good time to try and see how I feel. My plan was to run the first mile because it would be tight with people. After that I tried 5 min run, 1 min walk . Actually that worked. There was a time, near the end that my knee felt like it was going to buckle.

I made sure to stop at every water stop. What I know now, is I need different compression running wear. I can apply some creams to my leg when I start to feel pain. And, I might need to bring some aleve along with me to reduce throbbing.. And I have to remember to fuel every 3 miles or so. I forgot that part.

I will say, the course was beautiful. It was mostly flat and it was fun. Once I got into my 5-1 rhythm, I just enjoyed it. The color of the leaves, running along the Charles, views of Boston, and running on memorial drive. Pretty kick ass.

For at least the first 5 miles I ran with my BGR ladies. I realize that I am a runner that likes quiet. I like to take in the scenery, maybe briefly chat. I’m in the music and in my zone. One of my sole sista does the most while racing. Meaning she likes to talk while running, be on the phone, help out people that are hurt while running. Non stop chatter. Which is so sweet but not around me. I’m not that girl.

I finished with a time of 2:36:04

5k Split: 11:05 Pace

10k Split: 11:39 Pace

10 mile Split: 12:38 Pace

Finish: 2:36:04 at 12:08 Pace

I was on the course for two and a half hours with an average pace of 11:55.

Not bad but I have to double that for the marathon. I might try a 3:1 or 4:1 interval or just be mindful to slow down my pace.

Finishing this race makes for my 62nd half marathon. My first was in 2014- Run to Remember and 10 years later 2024, the Cambridge half is my 62nd. Of course now I need to run 38 more half marathons. #goals.

Funny, my first half , I didn’t really know what I was doing and I didn’t know anyone in the local running community. Today, is the complete opposite of the first race. What a difference 10 years of running makes.