Citrus Heritage Half Marathon: 1/11/14

This was an inaugural race and half marathon #17 for me! I am always a sucker for inaugural races but that is not the main reason why I chose to run this race. I chose it because I wanted to celebrate Caroline's 45th birthday by doing one of the things that we both love...RUNNING of course! 

Not only was it an inaugural race but it was pretty close to home. No hotel needed and same day bib pick up which is always a plus! My other friend Megan also registered for the race so I had to do it! My only hopes for this race was NO WIND! Last week's half marathon was pretty crazy with the strong headwinds!

We arrived for bib pick up around 7:00 am and there was no line at all. They gave out long sleeve tech shirts to the half marathoners which was pretty nice. Since the race started in a park, they actually had real bathrooms. There were no lines, they were clean and they even had toilet paper! 

I met up with Caroline, Megan and Suzanne shortly before the start and we made Caroline wear a "Another Year of Fabulous" sash since it was her 45th birthday and her 25th half marathon. Pretty impressive woman if you ask me!

The national anthem was sang and then we were off. I was thinking that I was running a fast and flat course but not so much.

After last week's windy race, I was hoping that I would be able to run a better race this week since the weather conditions were much better. This race I did something that I have never done before and it was pretty hard for me. I ran this race by feel. I did wear my Garmin but I set it to distance only and never checked my pace. 

I really liked the course. It started at Arlington Heights Sports Park and then took the runners through Citrus State Historic Park and through the orange grove areas of Riverside. It was not an easy course for me but it was very pretty and mixed things up. There were times when we were running on asphalt, then on dirt and mud through the orange groves, then on trail, then rolling hills, and then some flat surfaces. The uphill parts of the course were not brutal but the uphill finish was. That was a first for me!

I started out faster than I should have but since I was not looking at my watch I had no idea. I am really bad at knowing my pace without looking at my Garmin. I kind of felt that I was pushing it a little too much for the first mile so I slowed down a bit. I am glad I did.

Mile 1: 7:51
Mile 2: 8:15
Mile 3: 8:16
Mile 4: 8:14

I met another runner on the course around Mile 5 by the name of Norm and we started chatting about running. I stayed with him until Mile 8 and then he took off and left me on the downhill mile. He was a little bit older than me but swore we were in the same age group! Norm's best half marathon time is 1:39 so obviously I could not hang with him for very long! I don't think he was wearing a GPS watch because he kept asking me what pace we were running and I had to keep reminding him that I was not looking at my pace. Miles 5-8 were the hardest since they were not flat and they just kept gradually climbing so I am glad that I had some company.

Mile 5: 8:37
Mile 6: 8:23
Mile 7: 8:56 
Mile 8: 8:55 

GU was handed out at Mile 8 which was the end of the slow uphill climb. I think I backed off way too much on Miles 7 and 8 and had I looked at my Garmin this probably would not have happened. Mile 9 was all downhill and I took advantage of it and ended up passing quite a few runners who were ahead of me. 

Mile 9: 7:42
Mile 10: 8:18
Mile 11: 8:23

I had to refill my water bottle around Mile 11 so I lost a little bit of time there. The last two miles were one long stretch to the Finish Line. My legs were a little tired but I knew that the race was almost over and I had to keep my mind in it. As I was gathering my thoughts to finish the last mile, I was told by a race volunteer that I was the 7th place female overall. I wasn't sure if I heard her correctly or not but just the thought of it was enough to keep my legs going so I pushed myself to stay with it!

Mile 12: 8:09
Mile 13: 8:10
.10: 6:59

With one mile left in the race, I spotted the arch of balloons sitting at the top of a hill. Yes, the finish was uphill! There was a slight downhill and then a slight uphill to the finish. I told myself to pick it up a little on the downhill and try to maintain the same pace going back up. I was able to hold on and I gave it all that I had to the finish with the last .10 at a 6:59 pace!

My official time was 1:48:48 (8:18 pace) which is about 20 seconds faster than the half marathon that I ran last week. I was also the 7th overall female out of 241 and 36th overall out of 857 runners. Gotta love these small races!!

The weather was great for this race but the course was definitely more challenging! My calves were sore the next day which is always a sign that I ran a good race.

Isn't the medal super cute? My son was not impressed with the medal but was more impressed that the Bat Mobile made an appearance!

Have you ever ran a race by how you feel?

Anybody else race this weekend? 
I saw lots of posts on Instagram about the Dopey Challenge!
They made 48.6 miles look like a lot of fun!