3M Half Marathon - Run

My heel started hurting at mile 1 out of nowhere. THANK GOODNESS I decided to wear my hokas, that made running this bearable. It never got better but never got worse, so I figured my options were to drop out or keep pace, and I wasn't dropping out. My plan was to start at 9:30s for the first few miles and see where the day took me.

That felt about right, I hung with the 2:05 pace group, and I could tell it wasn't a sub-2 day, so I just kept fighting for the pace I could keep. For the first half, it was about 9:30s. I started losing it around mile 7, I had to take off the jacket (it's never been too hot in 50 degree weather but it was today), and my gait was all sorts of wrong trying to baby my heel, and it started to manifest with weird niggles all over in the latter miles.

I never gave up, I kept fighting for every second of my pace, but I slowed from 2:05, to fighting for a PR (2:08), to fighting to get in under 2:10. While I failed at all of these, I had given everything I had at the finish line (my pace actually slowed a few seconds the last .24 of a mile, and that NEVER happens, I always have a kick), and you can't ask for any more than that.

Although it wasn't my day, I made pretty good choices for the situation. Maybe wear sleeves and a tee instead of my jacket. Sleep better the night before? Possibly eat a *little* more on the course (I got down one full gatorade bottle and 100 calories of chews).

I walked through the chute, refueled with gatorade, two clemintines, and a bag of chips. I waited and waited for my husband and friends, and then finally met up with them... they finished less than TWO minutes after me and never saw me. Crazy. Had a completely non-constructive day of drinking and fast food (race days = party days!) and took the next two days off. A half marathon usually wouldn't take me out of commission for long, but this one really wrecked me!


More consistent training and keeping pace on my runs outside would have helped (treadmill, I'm fine, outside, I have troubles), and not getting sick and missing sessions in an already abbreviated cycle. Also - it just wasn't my day. Crappy sleep and random heel pain out of nowhere definitely didn't help things.


I said yes to plenty of drink stations, but they were very short (not many volunteers per) and super crowded, so I was glad I took my handheld. I usually use that as backup and take aide on the course, but I only hit one water station because I didn't want to have to dodge and weave people. Otherwise, fantastic race!