Rock 'n Roll USA 1/2 Marathon Race Report

It's great to have a race under the belt for the 2014 season!  Just 6 weeks prior to RnR 1/2 I started working with a coach and using a completely new training method.  I had my doubts but stuck with it and slowly saw improvements coming along but still wasn't sure I would be able to have a good 1/2 race with only 6 weeks of this training plan in the bag.

Race morning came along and I took down some Osmo Preload with my breakfast before heading down to
the race start.  Once at the race start I started shedding layers and getting ready to check my bag.  I help onto my throw away jacket and gloves and got started with a light warm up.  This is the first time I've ever warmed up for a race longer than a 5k or 10k.  I felt good and confident as I got myself situated in the proper corral just a few minutes before the elite wave took off.

I tried to keep warm and shake out any butterflies that were hanging around.  The 1/2 marathon is a distance I haven't had much success in over the past few years.  I've improved, but nothing like the improvements I've seen in my 5k, 10k, or 10 mile                                                                                         times over the past few years.

After just 3 minutes or so I was toeing the start line and ready to get this race underway.  The first 3 miles breezed by as did miles 4, 5, and 6.  All of these miles are basically flat.  Once you hit mile 6 the first climb starts and from that point on you are mostly running up or down hill with some flat sections mixed in.  My

energy levels felt good, I was using HR to guide my pacing and I felt strong on the hills.  For the first time during a 1/2 I felt good for miles 11, 12, and 13.  In past races I've been holding on for dear life during those last couple of miles.

I finished strong with a time of 1:46:12 for 13.25 (????) miles - I should get better at running the tangents I guess!  This was a 4 minute PR for me and most importantly an evenly paced and strong run.  I know there are still minutes upon minutes I'll be able to take off this time, for now it's a great start to the 2014 season.

Thank you Osmo for the pre race hyradration and thank you DC Tri/Snapple for the on course support and cheers!  Congrats to all who raced!