Race Recap: Nike Women’s Half Marathon DC

Posted on May 2, 2013 by Tori @ In Love and Peanut Butter

What a race.

This was my second Nike Women’s Half Marathon. The first one I ran was in San Francisco back in 2009. It was also my first distance race ever. When I heard that they were adding a new location this year I was excited to enter the lottery and kept my fingers crossed I’d get the chance to run it. I was lucky enough to get a spot and have been looking forward to this race ever since.

I stayed with a friend that lived about an hour (by metro) outside of DC. Race morning was a very early start to ensure we’d get there on time.

As soon as we got to the race we tried to get in line for the port-a-potties, but the lines were way too long. With only 30-ish minutes to spare we decided to make a run for the Marriott. I got back with just enough time to run to baggage check and get in my corral.

There was a moment of silence for Boston and both Shalane Flanagan and Joan Benoit Samuelson said a few words. They ran this race in matching Boston shirts. It was touching.

A few more words from the announcer and we were off.

The weather was perfect. A little bit cool but it warmed up, very quickly. The course looped through most of the major monuments around DC.

Course Map

I decided my strategy for this race would be to find a pace that felt comfortable and try to hang on, hoping it would be somewhere around 9:00-9:15.

I settled into a 9:20-ish pace for the first few miles and decided to just go with it. I wanted to enjoy the course, the city, and the energy of this race.

5k Split- 29:13

There was a ton of unique entertainment on this course. All types of bands and music popped up throughout. Since I rarely run with headphones I appreciated the pick-me-up I got from each one.

The temperature was starting to warm up and the lack of humidity was giving me really bad dry mouth. Something I haven’t experienced during a race before. The water stations seemed to be spaced a little over a mile apart and I got water at most of them.

10K Split- 57:56

One things that made this race so special was the spectators. I’ve heard stories about how incredible the support along the course is for other DC races. I was glad I was getting to see firsthand just how supportive this city really is.

The best was the signs. Oh, the signs. People are so darn creative. One of my favorites was a guy in a Darth Vader costume holding a sign that read “May the course be with you”. There were tons of other funny ones too…“Hope that Imodium worked”, seriously – the spectators rocked.

Just passed the 10K split I stopped for the bathroom. There were real bathrooms along this part of the course and I decided I’d better stop now. Since I didn’t really have any specific time goals I decided being comfortable for the rest of the race would be a better idea. It totally was.

15K Split – 1:27:55

We continued to loop around the monuments and I continued to take in the city. When I checked my Garmin I noticed my pace had slowed a bit. I didn’t feel like I was bonking, but I was slowing down. I didn’t really pay too much attention to it. I was enjoying the course and that was all that mattered. If my legs wanted to slow down a bit, I was going to let them.

During this time I also realized that my Garmin was a full half-mile ahead of the course markers. I’d reached the mile 10 marker and my watch was reading 10.5. There are a lot of tunnels on this course so I guess during the time that I lost satellite signal I’d thrown off my GPS.

20K Split – 2:00:13

Nike Womens Half

The last two miles wrapped around the Capitol Building and back toward the finish line. As with most races, this part seemed to drag on forever. I don’t know what it is about that last mile of a race that makes it feel so much longer than the 12 before it.

Finish- 2:06:56

Crossing the finish line of this race was like something out of every girls dream. There was a red carpet with men waiting in tuxedos. Each of them carrying silver trays full of little blue Tiffany’s boxes.

Seriously Nike, well played.

Shortly after I finished I was able to catch up with a few friends who had also run the race.

This is one of my favorite parts of any race. Hearing everyone’s experience with the same 13.1 miles you just ran.

Everyone I spoke to had enjoyed the race. It was a beautiful day in an incredible city, what’s not to love?

Thank you so much Nike Women’s Race Series for putting on an incredible event.

Race Recap: Iron Girl Half Marathon 2013

Posted on April 15, 2013 by Tori @ In Love and Peanut Butter

I usually have some sort of expectation of myself going into a race, but yesterday’s half marathon was another story.

Less than a month ago I ran the best half marathon of my life. It was the perfect day and I finally reached my sub-2 hour goal with a time of 1:58:08. One week later, I tore my lattissimus dorsi and ended up in bed for 5 days. Over the last three weeks I’ve been able to start swimming and biking again, but I’ve only run a whopping 4.8 total miles since then.

I knew it probably wouldn’t be easy running a half marathon after taking that much time off. But I also knew that it probably wouldn’t be possible if I didn’t give myself the time to recover.

While I had no time expectations, I did have a couple of goals for myself; enjoy the race, don’t be an idiot, and do the best you’re capable of.

The Iron Girl Clearwater Half Marathon is a tough but beautiful course. The humidity was already 79% when I checked at 5am. I knew that was going to make it especially tough. The forecast was back and forth with the chance of rain but it looked like, if we were really lucky, it may just be overcast for the morning.

I stayed a hotel a few blocks from the start line. In the morning Genna, Meghan C. and Meghan M. met me in the lobby to walk to the start together. We immediately ran into a ton of the Tampa Bay Blogger girls who were also running. I love that about local races. I always kind of forget that I’m actually there to race because I so enjoy catching up with everyone.

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Beth, Megan and I got in the insanely long line for the port-a-potties. We waited about 25 minutes before deciding to bail. By that time, it was 6:56 and the race started in 4 minutes. We made it to the start line just in time to hear the national anthem and ended up towards the very back of the pack.

Mile 1 – 9:18
Mile 2 – 9:10
Mile 3 – 9:36

The first quarter mile or so I spent bobbing and weaving until I was able to catch up to the part of the crowd with a comfortable pace, which was somewhere around 9:15-9:30.

We hit the first bridge not too long after the start. I’m so glad I’ve been running these bridges more often. I’ve run this race twice before and had previously never been able to run up an entire bridge without walking. I took the first bridge with no problems.

Mile 4 – 10:19
Mile 5 – 9:56
Mile 6 – 10:01

The second bridge into Sand Key came shortly after that. I slowed down about a bit on the uphills and tried my best to make up the time on the downhills.

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I got water at every station along the way. It was really humid and I was sweating like crazy. Luckily, every time I felt like I needed water an aid station would appear. I felt that they were perfectly spread out.

Mile 7 – 9:46
Mile 8 – 9:47
Mile 9 – 10:15

Miles 7 and 8 were an out and back. I was able to see a bunch of girls I knew running. I love out and backs for that reason. It’s always a nice little pick-me-up.

Mile 9 is when I started to feeling my lack of training. It was getting physically harder by the minute. The bridges took a bit of a toll on my knees and my legs were starting to feel heavy. I also started to curse the long line at the port-a-potties that morning that I never made it through. That combined with the amount of water I was drinking were a bad combination.

Mile 10 – 10:38
Mile 11 – 10:13
Mile 12 – 10:38

After the out and back we made our way back over the Sand Key bridge and toward the finish line. I really felt that bridge this time around. I was determined not to walk. No matter how slow I was jogging up it I was not stopping to walk. That became my mission.

At the top of the bridge a guy who was spectating looked over and said “this is the toughest local race and you’re making it look easy.” I’m sure he was just being nice, and I’m sure he had also said it to the couple hundred people ahead of me. But it was really motivating to hear at that moment. Thank you random stranger.

The kind random starnger and the downhill I was facing made the next mile go by pretty fast. That was until about mile 11.5. I had been hoping to wait until the finish line to bee line it to the bathrooms. But that wasn’t going to happen, I had to pee…. like right now.

Mile 13 – 11:27

Just after the mile 12 marker I found a port-a-potty and ran in. Luckily, there was no line. All I could do was shake my head and laugh. Less than a mile left to go and I was stopping to pee. Whoops.

The last mile was our final bridge, STRAIGHT into a headwind. It was a tough climb, but I was once again determined not to walk. I’d made it through the whole course without walking. I could make it one more mile.

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After the bridge we went down a corkscrew off ramp and into the finish line.

Official Finish Time – 2:11:38

I ran into the girls just a few moments later. We talked about the race and how, even though it’s challenging, it really is a great course. We talked about funny signs we’d seen along the way. And finally, how grateful we were that even though it was humid, the sun stayed behind the clouds all morning keeping it from getting too hot.

I was looking at past results to see what I ran this race in back in 2011. It was 2:41:48. Two years later I ran it in 2:11:38. Sometimes you have to put these things down in black and white to remember how far you’ve come. I’ll take a 30-minute improvement any day.

Did you run the Iron Girl Half Marathon or 5K? Link your recap in the comments below!

Disclosure: I was provided a comp’d race entry from the awesome team over at Iron Girl in exchange for this post. All opinions are my own.

Race Recap: Florida Beach Halfathon

Posted on March 18, 2013 by Tori @ In Love and Peanut Butter

There are days in a runners life that remind us why we got into this sport in the first place. We put one foot in front of the other as fast as we can for as long as we can. We stop letting the numbers control us and realize that we actually control the numbers. Yesterday was one of those days for me. Yesterday was my sub-2.

Yesterday, I ran the Florida Beach Halfathon. I decided to run this course by myself with no iPod and no distractions. This was my redemption race and I wanted to give it everything I had. I wanted to run my own race at a pace I felt proud of at the finish line. I ran this race because I had something to prove, to myself.

The race is held at Ft. DeSoto Beach in Tierra Verde. The course is flat and fast with a 3-mile loop followed by a 10 mile out and back. The weather was perfect, overcast and cool. The race director and volunteers were incredible and put a lot of thought into this race. The bibs were even customized with our birthday as our race number. How cool is that?

Instead of detailing every mile of the course I’m going to do something different and detail my thoughts by mile. If you’re a runner, I’m sure a lot of this will resonate with you. If you’re not, you may think I’m insane by the end of this post. I’m okay with both.

I met up with my entourage of Meghan’s at 6am before the race. Meghan C, Meghan M, Meg and I sat in my car in the pitch black and chatted about all things running like we normally do.

We made our way over to the start line about 30 minutes before the race to pick up our timing chips.

Near the start line we ran into Mary. The five of us stood around chatting and laughing for nearly 30-minutes. In that time I kind of forgot that I was there to run a half marathon. It really wasn’t until the National Anthem was sung that I realized I was about to start another 13.1 mile journey.

We all wished each other luck and made our way across the start line. I robotically started my Garmin and settled into a pace I felt comfortable with.

Mile 1- 8:40

During that first mile I just kept thinking how good I felt. My legs felt fresh and really strong. My breathing came so easy. It was so dark I couldn’t see the face of my watch. I was glad about that. I didn’t want my watch to dictate my pace; I wanted to dictate my pace.

When I saw the first mile marker I thought it came too fast. When my Garmin ticked off the first mile I looked down and realized it had come quicker than normal, but not by fault of the course. It was me that was faster than normal. I’d run the first mile in 8:40. A pace I’ve only ever held during 5Ks or tempo runs. Instead of freaking out like I normally would, I got really excited. I felt strong.

Mile 2- 8:46

It was still dark but the sun was starting to come up. I decided that I wasn’t going to look at my watch until I felt like I was half way through the next mile. I looked down about half way through and realized I was holding strong to my pace. I made a plan to do this for every mile along the way.

Mile 3- 8:31

At mile three we looped back around to the start/finish line. The announcer was cheery and telling us that we’d run faster if we had a smile on our faces. I remember thinking she was right. I put a smile on my face as I passed by and told myself I’d smile as much as I could this day.

At the 5k mark I realized I was just seconds off of my 5k PR. I remembered how I felt during the third mile of that race. I felt like I could fall over unconscious at any moment. My breathing was a mess and my legs were heavy during that whole race. I remember crossing the finish line thinking I couldn’t have held that pace for one more minute.

I felt nothing like that now. I felt like I could hold this pace all day. My breathing was easy, my legs felt strong and I was smiling. Today was my day.

Mile 4- 8:57

I got really emotional at some point during this mile. I remember thinking that I wish I could call my fiancé and tell him I was doing it. I was running the race I’d trained for. I was running the race I KNEW I had in me. I really wished he could have been there. I knew he would have been proud. I was proud.

Mile 5- 9:02

For some reason this was the mile I realized I could do it today, not only PR but I could go sub-2. I really hadn’t thought it was going to be possible to do it at this race until that time.

I also for some reason though that I was almost half way at this point. Math was never really my strongest subject and I definitely lose any of the computing skills I have when I’m running. So, thinking I was nearly half way, I decided to go for it. At this moment I decided this race was 1:59 or bust.

Mile 6 – 9:01

I checked my watch a few times during this mile. I could feel that I was starting to get inside my head and it was slowing me down. I made a conscious effort to stop and realized that I probably needed some nutrition, so I had a Gu.

During mile 6 I caught up to Meg. I started to get worried. She’s been battling some hip pain since her marathon last month (if you haven’t read this post you should, she’s one tough chick). I had a feeling something was wrong. This is a runner that I look up to, I shouldn’t be catching up to her. I asked her how she felt and could tell she was starting to hurt. I told her to race smart and she nodded and I went on ahead.

Mile 7- 8:55

Apparently the Gu was exactly what I needed. I felt strong again.

Meghan M. ran past me on her way back to the finish line. She was all smiles and was hauling ass. That girl is an animal.

A few minutes later I saw Meghan C. during a roundabout. She was in the zone. She had a mission that day and from what I could tell she was well on her way to a PR. I felt proud of her. I was proud of all of them. I’m friends with a really strong group of women… who all happen to be named Meghan.

Mile 8 – 8:50

Mile 8 was the turnaround point to make our way back to the finish line. This was it. I was well-past the real half way point and I still felt strong.

During this mile I realized I’d been running practically side by side with the same guy in a green shirt for a few miles. I had a feeling we had the same mission from this point on.

Mile 9 – 9:02

During mile 9 I started thinking about how much time I’d “banked” during the race so far. I had saved more than minute. I was going to do this. My legs were getting a tired but I was thriving off it. I remember embracing the hurt. The hurt meant I was working.

Mile 10 – 9:05

During mile 10 I realized that I wasn’t slowing down like I thought I would. I had a 5k left and I still had 5k left in my legs. They were tired, sure, but they were going to finish strong.

I also realized that the time I’d “banked” to use later in the race was really time that I’d be BELOW 2:00. It was an insane thought to me. I’d always thought that when I finally did get my sub-2 that I’d be hitting that timing mat with seconds to spare. I always thought that I’d be calculating how much I needed to pick it up for the last 5k. Could I really be finishing the race with more than a minute to spare?

Mile 11- 8:55

I started thinking about my last post. How I was proud of myself for letting go of the pressure but never of the dream. By not defining how my race should go ahead of time had allowed me to run my own race today. I felt limitless. I was going sub-2, now how much below that 2-hour mark was I going to be?

I looked over at the guy in the green. He was still next to me and he still looked strong. We were going to do this.

Mile 12 – 9:06

I think I blacked out for all of mile 12. Seriously, I don’t remember it at all…

Mile 13 – 9:15

This was the toughest mile, as it should be. I remember thinking just hang on. Just hang on for 1 more mile. Fight for it. It didn’t matter If I never ever see the clock say 1:xx again in my life, I was going to today.

The last quarter mile or so of the race snakes around from the road, through a parking lot, and then to the finish chute. I could see the clock when I was coming off the road. It said 1:57. I could do this.

When I came into the finish line I saw Meghan, Meghan and Mary. Someone yelled “you did it!”

I put my face in my hands and I cried for a minute. I had done it.

Official Finish Time: 1:58:08

As I got my medal and made my way through the finish line area a man came and tapped me on the back. He thanked me for pacing him. He said he’d hung behind me for a lot of the race. I had been completely unaware. The guy in the green appeared too. He also thanked me and said he’d done the same thing. Three total strangers and we’d all paced each other one way or another. How cool is that?

I met up with Meghan M, Meghan C. and Mary. They had also ALL PR’d this race. There was a lot of celebration and excitement.

Meg was just a few minutes behind me. Despite nursing her hip for most of the race she’d finished in 2:02. I told you, she’s one tough chick.

We sat around for a while and talked, danced and drank green beer while we waited for the awards so Meghan M. could claim her 2^nd place age group medal!

Congrats Meghan!

I was so happy I was able to share this experience with these girls. I’m not sure if they know just how much they’ve each inspired me throughout the last year. Heck, even just the last few weeks. I’m so grateful for them.

Also, thank you all for all of your support in accomplishing this goal. Your comments have been a constant source of inspiration to me.

Race Recap: Disney Princess Half Marathon

Posted on February 27, 2013 by Tori @ In Love and Peanut Butter

I ran the Disney Princess Half Marathon back in 2010. I was new to running, ran it by myself and didn’t dress up. My experience this year was completely different. Running this race with girlfriends, cramming 5 girls into one room at a Disney resort, and dressing up in costume made this weekend absolutely incredible. I would definitely suggest going that route if you plan to do it!

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We stayed at Disney’s Pop Century Resort which was one of the host hotels. To take advantage of the race day transportation we needed to be on a bus by 4am. This made for a very early morning.

Since we had 5 girls into one teeny hotel room we knew we needed to make a plan for the morning. Everyone decided to get up at 2:45am to be out the door by 3:30am. I always shower race morning to wake up (yes, I realize this is probably strange) so I set my alarm for 2:30am.

That alarm came early after only 4-hours of sleep, but I woke up full of excitement. I had a Cliff Bar and a banana and went through my other race morning rituals. The other girls got up, dressed in costume, and soon we were all ready and out the door.

The line for the bus was long but moved very quickly. It was fun to see everyone in costume. After the short shuttle ride we arrived at the parking lot for Epcot and made our way to the finish line area. There is a 20-ish minute walk to the start line from there. We stopped at a port-a-potty on the way to our spot in Corral B.

This is the first Disney race I’ve done that wasn’t freezing in the morning. A 5:35am race start at this time of the year usually means throw away layers. When we were already warm at the start I knew it was going to be a hot day.

Meghan and I warmed up by taking some jumping photos to practice for my castle photo I was determined to get.

I think we still need a little practice but, it was good enough for me.

After lining up in the corrals we listened to the National Anthem and watched the fireworks go off for the first two corrals. Then it was our turn.

Start line

Meghan, Genna and Caitlyn had decided that they’d stop for all of the character photos along the course. Meghan (Rapunzel) and I had said we’d see how we felt but would probably stop for only a few photos along the way. I was really conflicted with this decision. I wanted to stay in the group but after seeing the lines at the expo the day before I knew I’d only get frustrated if I waited in all of the photo lines on race day.

Mile 1 -11:06
Mile 2 - 10:13

Because we took our time getting to our corral we started at the very back. This is the last time I’ll ever do that at a Disney race. The first two miles were spent bobbing and weaving through people. It was impossible to run faster than an 11 minute mile. The course narrows in the beginning which also doesn’t help with the traffic flow.

Meghan and I got separated from the group somewhere during the first mile. I looked back and waived hoping that the other girls saw. When we came to the first character for photos I was surprised at just how many people were waiting in line. Although I was sad the group was separated so quickly I knew I didn’t want to wait in that line.

Mile 3 - 9:49
Mile 4 - 9:15

These couple of miles started to spread out. We were both already sweating. It was 6am and the humidity was already nearly 90%. Meghan commented that she could feel the moisture in the palms of her hands. She was right. It was downright muggy. My Minnie Mouse arm warmers quickly became Minnie Mouse wrist cuffs to try and keep cool.

We did our best to forget about the weather and just enjoy the course. This was Meghan’s first Disney race and I was excited to share the experience with her.

Mile 5 - 9:30
Mile 6 - 10:58

During mile 5 you approach the Magic Kingdom. Running down Main Street and towards the castle always gives me chills. The crowd support during this stretch of the course is just magical. It was still before sunrise and the castle was lit up and the twinkle lights over Main Street were glowing. Photos don’t do it justice. You have to run a Disney race to know what I’m talking about.

Meghan and I stopped at the end of Main Street for some photos. I put my jumping skills to the test. We failed to capture a good one.

We did however get a great photo of the two of us.

After you run down Main Street you run through the Magic Kingdom. After that you loop back around and run through the castle. We of course had to stop for another photo during this time. The professional photographers were lined up in front of the castle to snap photos, with no line! Meghan and I ran to a photographer, snapped a photo and were back on route in about 30 seconds.

During the Magic Kingdom we caught up with Kat and ran the next few miles with her. She agreed that it was unreasonably hot for this time of the morning and had been having fun taking pictures along the way.

Mile 7 - 9:56
Mile 8 - 9:46
Mile 9 - 9:47

From what I can remember, this part of the course runs through the back of the parks and along some services roads. The sun finally tried to make an appearance during this time but was held off by the clouds. Meghan and I were getting water at every water stop to stay hydrated. I was sweating a lot more than normal and I paid close attention to hydration. I was also pouring water down the back of my neck at every water stop to stay cool.

Mile 10 – 9:57
Mile 11 -10:02

Both of us agreed that we could use a port-a-potty by Mile 11. We found one and ran up to it and it was padlocked. Worst joke ever. Luckily there was another one at the aid station a few hundred yards further. Unfortunately, there was only one with someone in there and we had to wait. The stop took a few minutes but we both agreed that we’d rather take the extra couple of minutes of a bathroom break than a total dehydration bonk any day.

While we were stopped Kat caught back up to us and we were able to run the rest of the course with her.

Mile 12 -12:06
Mile 13 – 9:39

The last two miles loop you around the Epcot ball and to the finish line. I always forget how difficult the onramps are to run. The incline isn’t really that bad but they are banked. There is one at mile 12.5 that is particularly rough, probably because it’s the only thing that separates you from Epcot and the finish line.

The last mile went on forever. My Garmin hit 13 long before I ever hit the mile 13 marker, about half a mile to be exact. I think all of the bobbing and weaving added some distance. I also think Garmins aren’t always exact. Shocking, I know.

Rumor has it Rapunzel’s braid crossed the finish line before we did

As we came around the corner to the finish line I had a serious flash back to finishing the marathon with Patrick last year. I remembered how excited I was for him to cross the finish line of his first marathon.

The crowd support at the Disney finish line is always awesome. There are people lined up screaming for people they don’t even know. Calling everyone by the characters names they’re dressed up as.

Photo Credit: Meghan

Meghan, Kat and I crossed the finish line together.

I particularly love this finish line because they all tell you “Congratulations Princess” and then they sprinkle your head with a wand full of glitter. I personally think all races should do this

After crossing the finish line we waited for the other girls to finish and grabbed a few photos.

I had so much fun hanging around the finish line and people watching. Since I wasn’t running anymore I was able to just appreciate the creativity of some people costumes.

We crossed the finish line in 2:16:29 but the time didn’t really matter to us. The Disney Princess Half Marathon is a race you run for the experience, and our experience was pure awesome.

It was so nice to get away for a girls weekend and be able to participate in such a fun event together. I am so grateful to have these girls in my life. We all agreed that we need to do this again.