Denver Half Marathon Recap

This weekend was the Denver Half Marathon. As you guys know, I was kind of worried about this race because it was my first trail race and it was small. I was worried my time would be super slow because of the trails or that I would get lost because there was not that many runners to follow. So heres how it went down:

• 6:30AM: Alarm goes off. Roll out of bed, throw on my running clothes and gear, brush the teeth.
• 6:55 AM: Punch the still asleep boyfriend in the face and tell him he has five minutes to get ready because that is when I'm leaving. (Ok, you guys know I'm kidding, I was actually really sweet and nice about it) Plus we made a deal that he would get up and go with me if I got up and made him coffee. I make the best coffee. It gets me things.
• 7:10 AM: We leave the apartment 10 minutes late. What the hell? Why am I always freakin late?!
• 7:40 AM: We get to the park where the race is being held. 20 minutes from the start time. We kind of speed walk to the start line, while the boyfriend makes jokes about how dorky runners are. Thats right fellow runners, this guy thinks your a dork:

lk

• 8 AM: Line up at the start line. The race announcer talks for a little about the course. I don't really listen. Figure I'll just wing it. Why was I afraid of getting lost on the course?
• 8:10AM: These things never start on time.
• 8:11AM: WERE OFF!!
• Miles 1-3: Feeling pretty good. The trails haven't really started yet, but they said that they wouldn't until about mile 4 or 5. Mile splits are 8:15, 8:03, 8:02. I'm on pace so far to beat my 2 hour goal.
• Miles 4-6: Hit the trails. they are single track, so if you get stuck behind a slow poke your doing some bush waking to get around them. Luckily I got just the right distance behind a girl that was right on pace with me. It kept my pace up and kept me confident that I following the right course. Mile splits are 8:12, 7:54, 7:58.
• Miles 7-9: HIt the half way point still feeling pretty good, it starts to warm up a little but right about then we go through a wooded area. I keep thinking "THIS IS SO COOL!!" we ran across streams, rocks, and the whole time it was shaded by trees and prefect weather. Mile splits are 8:16, 7:59, 8:05.
• Miles 9-11: I knew that this was an out and back course and on the way into the wooded area I saw the sign for the 11 mile mark. I just kept waiting to come back through those woods, because I'm tellin ya it was awesomeness! About this time I catch up with the guy that has been slightly ahead of me the whole race. We stop at the water station and he asks me what mile we are on. I tell him and for the rest of the race we are BFFs. Mile splits are 8:19, 8:13, 7:53.
• Miles 12 and 13: Last leg of the race. I keep counting down the mileage to my new BFF who is pacing off of me now. I also tell him not to use me for an unfair advantage. (Totally kidding). Finish strong! Mile splits are 8:19 and 7:40.
• The last leg: My watch says 13.1 but the finish line is no where in site! "Oh yeah, I think I remember them saying it was a little more than 13.1, Ok now I see it...wayyyy up there....at the top of that HILL!" What kind of cruel joke is this?! I have a little "Kara Goucher-esk" race with a girl right at the finish line. Smoke her. See the boyfriend and the dog, high five em'. FINISH!!
• My watch ends up saying 13.6 miles. Geez can we adjust my time for that?!
• I FINISH 13.6 IN 1:50:02!!!!! WOO NEW PR!!

I was so proud of myself for reaching my stretch goal. I had a blast and spent the rest of the day looking up what trail race to do next. Its love.
Oh yeah, and if you want to see some awesome (in a totally "I'm running 13 miles, don't even THINK about taking my picture" way) you can go to this link: PBC Sports Photography. This guy did a great job with the pictures. Im thinking about buying one in poster size for the living room. The boyfriend and the roommate would LOVE that huh?!

Giving Yourself a Pat on the Back

Have you ever caught yourself saying "oh, I JUST ran 4 miles today" to a nonrunner and gotten a reaction like "JUST 4 miles?! I couldn't even walk one!"
Or how about beating yourself up because you ran at an 8 minute pace instead of 7:45?
OR how about becoming so used to running longer distances that you no longer take pride in running 7 or 8 or 9 miles?
I was thinking about that today when I was running, and thought you know what? No one should down play their accomplishments like that. There are people out there that never will walk a mile, or run 7, or run a mile at an 8 minute pace.
Sure, running is something that anyone can get good at with practice and dedication, but a lot of people just aren't that dedicated to running. It takes a special kind of person to be a runner, or biker, or walker, or whatever your sport is.
I came to the conclusion that everyone should be PROUD of what they accomplish. Stop being hubble, and admit it...YOU KICK ASS! You are doing something that most people will never do.
So next time you catch yourself saying "oh no big deal I just did a small 3 mile run" or "10 miles is nothing compared to the 26.2 Im training for", stop yourself and say I ACCOMPLISHED SOMETHING GREAT TODAY, SOMETHING I AM PROUD OF!
So follow the lead of these peeps, and pat yourself on the back for something that you accomplished today!

Image from Sax Angle

Image from Experiance life fully

Speaking of something to be proud of...I officially achieved a PERSONAL DISTANCE record on my long run today with a total of 15 MILES!
I followed what I have learned so far through training and fueled myself well before the run, brought along water and GU for during the run, and stretched and recovered after the run. I also started out at a slow comfortable pace for the first half and then kicked it up into gear for the last half. And it felt great!!!
I ended up running the 15 miles in an average pace of 8:36 with a time of 2:08. Here are the splits:

Mile 1: 8:41
Mile 2:  8:33
Mile 3: 8:30
Mile 4: 8:41
Mile 5: 8:10
Mile 6: 8:40
Mile 7: 8:45
Mile 8: 8:15
Mile 9: 8:00
Mile 10: 8:05
Mile 11: 8:12
Mile 12: 8:01
Mile 13: 8:05
Mile 14: 8:30
Mile 15: 8:42

Now its time to ice up and shower...I have the whole day off so I'm thinking SHOPPING! :)
So now I want to hear from you...WHAT ARE YOU PATTING YOURSELF ON THE BACK FOR TODAY? Go on, brag a little!

Blue Plum 5K

Every year the city that I live in has a HUGE festival for the first weekend of June, called the Blue Plum. Don't ask me why...I have no idea! Anyway, its always TONS of people, TONS of drinking, and TONS of fun. And on top of all that fun they throw in a 5K on Saturday morning!
Now, I am going to start out by telling you that I had NO intentions of running this race. And here were my reasons why:

• I usually don't like short distance races, because they are too fast for me. I would much rather run long distances and keep a nice pace, then flat out sprinting for 3 miles! VERY intimidating!
• The race was scheduled for 9 AM...I was scheduled to be into work at 10AM
• I had already planned on taking advantage of the before mentioned "TONS of drinking" the night before

All those reasons had made me pretty much decide against it, even though a small part of me really wanted to do it. Hey, it was a race, it was close, and it was cheap...and you got a free t-shirt!
I guess that little part of me decided to jump on out when I accidentally asked my cousin Matt (who runs races with me usually) if he wanted to run with me on Saturday. I was kind of hoping that he would say NO, but he was SUPER enthusiastic about it. So, I got myself stuck.
You would think that knowing I had to wake up at 8AM for the race, I would have taken it easy last night. Yeah, you would think. I managed to only have a few beers, but my cousin and my roommate had a few more than that...which meant we didn't get home until after 2AM in the morning.
A brief 6 hours later, I was up, lacing up my running shoes, and pinning on my race tag.

My cousin Matt and I ready to run!
30 minutes after that I was standing at the starting line wondering if I could make it without falling asleep mid-stride.
The announcer came up to the start, mumbled something about the race...the which the guy beside me mumbled to me "so basically just start running when everyone else does, right?" Yep, he had it figured out.
Annndddd we were OFF! And let me just tell you it was HORRIBLE!! And here is why in a nice bulleted outline:

• wayyyy tooo fasssttt!!! haha. maybe I am just a weakling, but I am just not good at short, fast distances (like I mentioned) I am much more comfortable with long, steady distances. When we started out I ran the first mile in 7:32. Again, WAYYYY TOOOO FAAASSSTT! And the thing was I kept telling myself it was too fast, but for some reason I didn't slow down! haha
• It got HOTT and HUMID quick.
• those beers I drank the night before were NOT helping me in the least
• headphones were not allowed. this was the first time that I had ever ran without headphones. AWFUL! I had to listen to the people beside me breathing all heavy and worrying if they were gonna pass out right beside me! This makes me nervous. And nervous running = no good.

We finished, grabbed a water and a banana, and took off back home so I could shower and be ready for work in 45 minutes!

I didn't get to stay for the official results since I had to be at work so I was anxious all day to find out my time and placing.
As soon as I got home I jumped on the computer to check the results...I was rrrreeealllyyy hoping for a time of under 25 minutes and was SUPER bummed when I saw that my official time was 25:04.
However, the "bummy-ness" quickly turned around when I clicked on the link for age group placings. And saw this:

Female 20-24
Place O'All Name Bib# Age City St Time ===== ===== ========================= ==== === ===============  
1 120 Emily Harvey 486 24 25:04                              
2   151 Ashlee Jenks               197  24                                                                
3   196 Jessica Jones              550  20

Yep thats me! FIRST PLACE IN MY AGE GROUP!!! :)
I have never placed in a race before AND this was a PR time for me. So I guess all in all it wasn't so bad after all! And I am sooo glad that I decided to do it and not back out because of stupid reasons! In the end I bit the bullet, took the challenge, and came out on top. And even though I barely missed my goal of under 25 minutes, I still couldn't be happier with the race!
No its nap time and then another night out for Kelli's 21st! Hope everyone has a great weekend!
<3 Em