Wicked Runner: Robie Recap

Let me just start by saying, I didn't exactly meet my goal again this year ... I REALLY, REALLY want to run this "hill-acious" half marathon in under 2 hours. But, I suppose this year was not the year to do it. On a sweltering day when many runners saw their times increase by 10 minutes, I guess I will just be happy that my race time went down by about 8 minutes.

I AM HAPPY!!! I think if it would have been cooler, that last mile to the summit *might* have been a little faster ... but I can't really complain about my time. I wanted to improve and I did. I know I can do better and I'm hoping that another year of trails next year will put me where I want to be in 2013.

Things I did this year that seemed to help:

I ran trails. A lot. (I probably should have thrown in a few treadmill runs to work on speed, but I never did.) It has been so fun getting to know some of the trails in my area. It's amazing how addicting running outside can be. The only problem was I ran outside in the cold and wind most of my training months ... I wasn't prepared to run in blazing, sunny 80 degree heat!!
I rested the week before the race. A lot. I did one trail run/hike with my kids about 4 days before the race, but other than that I took the whole week off and let my body build up energy.
I ate carbs. A lot. I read this article and even though "carbing up" a whole 3 days prior to the race seemed a little overkill, I can honestly say I felt like I had plenty of fuel in the tank on my run. That was definitely a nice feeling.
I ate bananas. A lot. A TON, actually. I was so nervous about having another bad year in the leg cramp department, I started eating at least one banana a day months out and in the weeks before the race I was sure to have two. Last year my downhill suffered so bad (and that's usually the fastest part of the race -- the area to make up time) as I had to stop every five minutes and massage my calves as they were in a near-constant cramp state. Not fun.
I was a good girl and took my vitamins. I'm usually pretty spacey about taking regular vitamins/supplements but I tried really hard to stay on track. I took a multi vitamin, Fish Oil, glucosamine and biotin every day!
I kept a positive attitude. The whole race I kept telling myself "You get one chance a YEAR to do this Yvonne ... you can do it, you can give it your all!"

Last year was so disappointing -- I got sick and wasn't able to train like I needed to. I wasn't mentally or physically prepared. This year, I felt so much more in control. I would have liked to see even more minutes shaved off my time, but I have been celebrating anyway. I am happy with my results. Happy that I was able to finish strong, with a smile on my face!

In 2010 and 2011 I ran it in 2:18 -- that's gun time, not chip time so it doesn't account for the time it took me to actually cross the START line. This year my gun time was 2:10:18 and my chip time (or what I like to call my REAL time!) was 2:08:32. I finished 457th overall (out of 2,466 runners), 102nd among the women, and 24th in my age division! Yay! Definitely room for improvement, but that's what next year is for! :)
Here are some fun race-weekend pics ...