Saturday, April 27, 2013

Unite Rutger's 1/2 Marathon Race Report



I loved this race!  I was so undertrained for this race.  The last time that I had run more than 5 miles was at my last 1/2 marathon on 2/24.  I had low expectations for myself.  My big thing was to have fun and enjoy myself.  I was a little nervous on how much it was going to hurt but I knew that I could get through it. 

We came into town Friday night after a four drive.  The drive was crazy- thank heavens my husband drove the whole way!  It poured for 3 of the four hours.  We ended up missing little exits here and there once we got to New Brunswick.  This added an extra 1/2 hour onto our trip.  What a pain it is to drive New Jersey (no offense :) ).  We checked into the hotel and caught up on the news and headed to bed. 

Ally loved the hotel lobby!

Saturday, my daughter and I headed to the expo right away.  My husband and step-son were going to the Devils game so we had to be back to the hotel by 11 so they could head out.  It was much easier to navigate in the daytime with no rain but I still ended up driving around 15 minutes longer than should of.  We got to the Expo and picked up my number with no problem.  It wasn't a huge expo but they had nice selection of stuff.  I picked up a new nuun water bottle and some nuun tablets of flavors I didn't have.  I also bought some tropical punch clif shot blocks.  It is my favorite flavor and I cannot find them in stores around here.  I bought a  red 13.1 Saucony shirt to wear on race day.  We headed out and 1/2 way back to the hotel I realized I had forgotten to pick up safety pins.  Quick stop to a store and we were on our way back to the hotel.

Ally and I at Expo

Ally and her barbies


The rest of the day, I had  a girls day with my daughter while the boys were at the game.  We swam, painted our nails, watched a movie and grabbed a bite to eat.  When the boys got back we headed for dinner.  I chose Chipotle of course.  It is my favorite place to eat!  Well, this choice came back to bite me the next morning.  It sure tasted yummy though.  We headed back to the hotel.  Husband took Ally and Bryson swimming while I rested and hydrated. 

pool fun

Sunday morning, I was quite nervous.  I got up ate, drank more water, packed up and checked out of the hotel.  My husband dropped me off at the shuttle, wished me luck and told me he'd see me at the finish line.  It was a quick wait for the shuttle and we were off to the start.  Once I got off the shuttle bus it was a quick walk to the start line.  I knew I needed a bathroom trip before the start and I had about 15 minutes.  The lines were so long!  I knew that I'd miss the start so I popped a squat and headed to the line.  I moved my way up to 2 hour pace group.  They gave us all American Flags.  I put it in my pony tail.  They had a moment of silence for Boston, played Sweet Caroline, and the National Anthem and we were off.  It took me 2 minutes to get to the start.  In that time, I looked over and saw my daughter sitting there.  When I yelled for her my husband spotted me.  I was so excited to see him!!!

excited to see them!





Miles 1-4 8:19, 8:33, 8:06. 8:54

It was hillier than I thought it was going to be but it was so pretty.  I was just trying to settle into a pace.  The miles were flying by.  I knew that I needed a bathroom stop at some point!  I was hurting stomach wise (chipotle).  I stopped at porta-potty at mile 4.  I stopped my watch so I would have a time of what I was running since I knew I was on chip time.  I lost a few minutes here but it was much more comfortable to run :)

Miles 5-10 8:30, 8:20, 9:05, 8:52, 8:58, 8:59

My legs were getting tired and my hips hurt so bad.  It was a weird discomfort more than anything.  The miles were still flying by.  I knew I was going to finish at this point.  I took a gel at the 1/2 way point and got water at every station.

Miles 10-13.1 (13.26) 9:34, 9:16, 9:42, last .26 was 2:11 (8:24) pace. 
The last few miles were a struggle as I suspected.  I just slowed the pace, walked through the water stops and kept thinking how lucky I was to be able to run!  This last section was hilly with the biggest hill at 12.9.  I made a friend going up that hill.  He and I encouraged each other up and it was a straight shot to the finish.  My garmin read 1:57:24 but with bathroom stop it was 2:01:09.






I really loved the course!  The whole thing was well organized and it is a race I recommend!!!

Any races you recommend??

1 comment:

  1. Great race Amy. I always like to hear about races that people really enjoy :)

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