Made in America Half Marathon Race Report

Yesterday I raced the Second Sole Made in America Half Marathon in Massillon, OH. It ended up being a good day for me and I enjoyed the race. I would say this was a harder course than the Buckeye half that I ran a couple of weeks back. This course starts near the Massillon Rec Center on the roads. The first 4 miles are rolling hills with some good climbs and downhill. I went out pretty fast the first couple of miles with my first mile around a 6:40. I wish I could hold that pace for a half but that's more like a good 5K pace for me. Still, I wanted to start a little faster this time and see if I could hold on and improve on my time from two weeks ago.

After 4 miles the race moves onto the Towpath Trail. The first couple of miles on the trail I felt pretty good and was on autopilot running a 7:30 pace. Around mile 6 or 7 I started to feel a little fatigue and my left hip area was noticeably tender. I remember thinking to myself I wish this was a 15K. I knew it was going to be a painful second half. At mile 9 I took out my gel and it fell on the trail so this was not good. I thought about leaving it but felt like I wanted the boost so I stopped and looked for it and lost a little time her, ending up with my only 8-minute mile.  About four people passed me, a couple that I was able to repass later.

The last couple of miles were hard for me and I labored around 7:40-7:50, just trying to hold on for the finish. I had really hoped to end the day with a new 13.1 PR but came up a little short. Still I was very excited to break 1:40 after a long time. My finish was 1:39:50ish so I was able to win my AG in a tough race. There were some seriously fast ladies out there and I ended up being 13th of 181 females, which is good for me right now. I hope to knock a minute or two off next season with some focus.

There were plenty of snacks at the finish and they were giving out Coors Light beer but I was too cold and tired for that. Steve had raced too and also won his AG! We ended up just taking the shuttle back to our car and changing and then heading home to shower and make a hot brunch. I felt a little under the weather afterwards so I too it easy for a couple of hours. Later we headed out to have a post race celebratory beverage.

I am pretty pleased with my last few races this season and feel that I am getting back on track. This Saturday is the Bills Badass Trail 50K. I think I will attempt to run it. I originally planned to sit it out with my hip issue but I feel I am getting stronger and it will be an easy effort for me anyways as I can just run it and not worrying about racing. Just finishing this one would be a victory for me right now. Then we have a Turkey Trot in Akron on Thanksgiving day and maybe a holiday race or two around Christmas if I'm up for it.

I am excited about next season. I have some big goals and I will just chip away at them one by one. I will not be taking on anything super long next year. My body needs some time off from that so I likely will not do anything longer than a 50k.

Post race with my handsome hubby!