Run for Home Half Marathon Race Report & Training Update

Sunday my husband and I raced the Run for Home Half Marathon in New Philadelphia, OH. It's been years since I have run this one and I'm happy to say that it was a course PR for me and an unofficial half PR as well (course was a little long).

It was a chilly morning but once we got in our 2 mile warm up I felt okay. My only real issue Sunday was that I had some GI distress before the race that lingered in the later miles of the race as well even after taking the trusty old Pepto.

Racing in Skirt Sports Redemption Capris & Truker Hat!

The start of the race is next to the stadium at Tuscora Park and I lined up near the 1:35 pacer. My goal for the race was 1:40 or better since this is a hilly course I wasn't expecting to PR. My previous course PR here was 1:45ish. As the first few miles ticked off I felt pretty good and was running around 1:35 pace (7:15s). I was able to hold this pace until about the half way point where it starts to get hilly and then I started to slow down a little to 7:20s and 7:30s, which was ok with me.

Around mile 8 or so I started to experience some GI stress again and had some nasty stomach cramps a couple times throughout the rest of the race that forced me to take a couple of short walk breaks. I was not happy about this but what can you do when you are in pain besides try to ease up?

I tried to stay steady and I feel I held back the last few miles a bit more than I would have needed to without GI trouble, which really stinks because I only lost 1st in my AG by 1 minute and 19 secs and she passed me with maybe 1-2 miles left in the race. I ended up 2nd in AG, 6th female with my race time of 1:40:19. My actual 13.1 time was 1:39:14 (7:35 pace), which would have been a slight PR for me! So despite a challenging course and GI issues I still had a good race and I'm happy with the effort!

Post race AG trophies for the two of us!

My hubby Steve also had a strong race running a 1:29:14 race time (real time of 1:28:12) for 6th male and 2nd in his AG also! We celebrated by going to FatHeads in Canton for some hard-earned hoppy beers!

My recovery this week has been rapid, which is good because I am also racing the 20 Mile Drop in Lake County this weekend. It will be a great last hard effort for Steve and I before we race the Hall of Fame Marathon April 29 because this one is a real quad buster! I'm hoping to have another good race even if it is supposed to be a rainy day (who knows maybe it will force me to run faster!?!)

As far as training last week I was a little under my goal but got in 45 miles of running, 53 miles of cycling and 2 strength workouts. This week I am hoping to get in 45-50 miles of running, 70-80 miles of cycling with 2 strength workouts.

My taper for Hall of Fame starts Monday but next week I will still be cycling a lot early in the week especially as I recover and just cut my running back to maybe 30-35 miles and try to get in 3+ strength workouts because the following week will be pretty light leading into the race. I hate tapers but they are a necessary evil!

I am looking forward to a little break in the racing in May until the Cleveland Marathon on May 20th! This is always one of my favorite races of the year because so many of my friends are out there running with me and Steve! If you need to sign up use my code (PMCLE10) for a 10% discount!