Yesterday I ran my 4th half-marathon. I PR'ed with an official time of 2:33, beating last year's time by 8 minutes. I'm happy with my time, but thought I could have been faster. It was a perfect morning to begin the marathon-around 53 degrees with a pretty sunrise. I ran the first 6 miles with my sister and a few of her friends who were running the full marathon. We ran around a 10:40 pace on the mostly flat portion of the race course. I was feeling pretty good until the beginning of the hills at mile 6. The next 3 miles gained 300ft of elevation. At this time, I fell behind my sister and was forced to slow down up the steeper set of hills. I stopped to walk briefly a few times. Halfway through the hills my stomach/GI system started to bother me. I stopped at a Port-a Potty which took about 4 minutes off my time (had to wait in line). Shortly after that, I saw my buddy Steph who was on the course cheering me on, so I stopped to chat with her briefly. Then I kept running to finish off the hills. I felt a little better, but then about a half mile later my stomach was really bothering me. I knew I had to go to the bathroom and soon. I had to stop to walk a few times, and then luckily got to a Port-a Potty about another half mile after that. After doing my business, I felt much better. I picked up my pace again and ran the last 3 miles around a 10:15 pace. My left hip started hurting a bit, and I could feel my feet getting sore, but I pushed through to the end of the race. My watch time was 2:26. My goal for this race was to break 2:30, which technically I did if you don't count my potty breaks. I think I could have ran a 2:20 if I had not had GI issues. I'm not really sure why I did, maybe it was because of the beer and other non-paleo foods that I had eaten during my week at home. :( Breakfast an hour and a half before the race was eggs with diced ham, 3 pieces of bacon and an avocado. I brought a Honey Stinger gel with me to take during the race, but I didn't feel that I needed it so I never ate it. I did have a few sips of Gatorade during the race- maybe that was the cause? Not sure.
As soon as I finished the race it started to rain. Fortunately I brought a sweatshirt that my sister had in her car, and took off my sweaty race shirt and put the sweatshirt on, or else I would have been very cold! The rain was off and on- not too heavy which was good. My dad and I walked around, and found my friend after she finished her first half-marathon. Then we waited near the finish line for my sister to finish the full marathon. Danielle ran her first marathon 5 years ago with a time of 5:09. This year she ran in it 4:33!
Today I'm feeling pretty good. Legs are a bit sore in places (hips, quads, hamstrings, shins), but overall not too bad. On the plane ride back to LA last night I wore my compression socks, which I think does help my lower legs recover a little better. At the post-race party around 9:30am, I had half a banana and then a Skyline cheese coney. Didn't eat anything again until I left with my dad to go to the airport- we stopped at Skyline and I got chili cheese fries and a Pepsi. It was yummy!! Later that night I had a bagel sandwich and chips at my connecting flight in Charlotte.
Since I don't have any groceries, I decided I would eat out today- breakfast was McDonald's- got the bacon egg and cheese McGriddle- so good! Didn't eat lunch at school- had potato chips and a Skinny Cow chocolate wafer thing. After school I went to get groceries. Chicken breasts were 50% off, so I bought 5 packs! :) For dinner I got Qdoba- 3-cheese nachos with ground beef, black beans, lettuce, and salsa. Now I'm full! Dessert will be the pack of M&M's that I never ate yesterday. Tomorrow I'm back to clean Paleo eating!! I'm afraid I did gain a few pounds back during my week at home. :/ I have chicken in the crockpot now, so I'll have that for lunch at school tomorrow, along with some peppers. I've got 4 dozen eggs fresh from the my friend's farm, and bought lots of veggies, some avocados and raspberries. I've also got a pork roast that I'll make later this week, and then I'll make my walnut red pepper dip.
Headed to bed early tonight...so tired! Here are some pics :)
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