I ran my second half marathon, the Longview Half Marathon, a little under a month ago on November 10th. I’ve been crazy lately with work (end of the football season & transitioning to basketball season) and school (end of the semester), so I’ve been prioritizing those over the blog for sure. I wanted to post this before it got too far away from me though!

I was hesitant to post my results and recap of this race because it didn’t go very well for me. However, I think that’s important to still write about – every race recap I’ve read goes in detail about how well they did and how they crushed their PR. That definitely didn’t happen for me, but I’m still proud of myself for running it!

Training 

I was more consistent in my training than I was for my previous half, but the weather killed me here. It had been fairly nice temperatures all fall, even hitting 60 degrees two weeks before race day. That encouraged me to keep running and stay consistent with my workouts. However, my training was mostly just running, and running alone – with the occasional strength workout thrown in there every couple weeks or so. I said this last time too, but I wish I had done more cross training! My only goal was to beat my previous half marathon time (2:34:57).

Splits

Garmin activity – didn’t stop watch til getting in the car post-race, so it’s not entirely accurate

 Pre-Race

My only goal was to beat my previous half (Rock the Parkway in KC in April with a time of 2:34). It was 17 degrees at the start and sunny, no wind. I was feeling like I dressed well and pretty prepared, so I lined up with the 2:30 pacer. It was seriously freezing, but I was wearing enough that it wasn’t terrible for me.

I wore a long-sleeve running shirt, a fleece vest, an Adidas windbreaker, a merino wool cap and leggings that covered my ankles. I think the main thing that saved me here was the fleece vest in between my shirt and windbreaker as an extra layer of warmth. I would highly recommend merino wool for anyone that runs – the cap was thin, but warm enough to keep my head warm and also cover my ears. Lastly, I wore latex gloves (like from the doctor’s office) under my regular gloves (just cheap knit ones). This was a tip from a guy at my local running store, Ad Astra Running, and it definitely saved me! My hands weren’t cold at all.

Miles 1-9

I warmed up about a mile in and was feeling really good, and went out way too fast hovering a few paces in front of the 2:25 pacer. Around mile 6, I was falling behind and not feeling great. I knew I had gone too fast and was regretting it! Lost sight of the 2:25 pacer around the bend. That was fine by me though – I still had the 2:30 pacer pretty far behind me. I wish I had checked my watch more during the first few miles so I paced myself better and slowed down more at the start.

Miles 10-13

Around mile 10, the 2:30 pacer passed me and I was just doing what I could to keep up. I got passed by the 2:35 pacers at mile 12 and felt so defeated. I barely made it through the finish line, my legs were just shot. I walked the majority of the last mile and could feel every muscle in my legs protesting, especially in my hamstrings. I wish I hadn’t let the 2:35 pacer passing me get to me so much mentally, because this was a huge block in my performance. It doesn’t help that she ran by looking like she was having the time of her life and was in a great mood! I’m sure I looked – and felt – miserable at that point.

Post-race

I finished in 2:37, only about 3 minutes off of my previous time. I think that made it worse, knowing that I was so close to beating my PR from last time. After, I took some pictures and got some breakfast pizza from Casey’s (which was surprisingly good) before heading home.

The race itself was alright – obviously, the weather didn’t help. This also wasn’t a very spectator-friendly race and I found myself feeling pretty isolated at times with only a few runners around me and just big stretches of winding trails, especially at the very end of the race. Because of the cold and a recent snow, the trail was also pretty slick at points. I know that KC Running Co went through and salted the trails beforehand though, so I appreciate that. I had to laugh when the last aid station at mile 12 was unmanned and the Gatorade was frozen over.

I’m not gonna lie, I’m pretty disappointed in myself. I really thought I could make it past my old time but I was off by just a few minutes (almost worse than being totally blown out). My Garmin tracking is off on timing because I didn’t stop my watch until getting in the car post-race. Overall, I know I need to focus on cross-training, I think that can work wonders for me.

I had signed up for the Hangover Half Marathon put on by KC Running Co. on January 1st, but I dropped down to the 5K after a work injury… for a good laugh, watch this video of me getting hit by a football player during the Kansas-Oklahoma game (more on this later!)

I have already signed up for the Rock the Parkway half marathon again. I have some time before that (in April), so I plan on focusing on building a strong cross-training base before I start my true training again. I also want to try to run the whole thing this time instead of doing the Galloway method, and I believe that with enough training and discipline, I can pull it off.

Have you ever ran a half marathon/would you like to run one?

xo, Hannah