Prairie Fire Half Marathon

This past Sunday we ran the Prairie Fire Half Marathon.  My brother, Thomas, and I originally planned to run the race as a tune-up race for the half marathon we are running in November.  Ever since the amazing 12 mile run at 7:55 pace I ran a couple of weeks ago (and by amazing I mean that I felt amazing) I've been really excited for the Prairie Fire and to see where I'm at.  Knowing I could run 12 miles at 7:55 pace I felt confident I would be under my goal of 8:00 pace or a 1:44.  I was tempted to shoot for under 1:40, but looked it up and realized that was 7:38 pace.  Deep down I wanted to break 1:40 but I just wasn't sure I could maintain that pace for 13.1 miles.

Wearing our race shirts.

Saturday night Carter woke up twice, once at 2 am and once at 4 am.  He was awake for about 30 minutes both times, so not too bad.  The race started at 7:30 am so I got up at 6:30 to make sure I had time to get ready and pump before the race.  Our hotel was so close to the race all we had to do was go across the parking lot and we were at the starting line.  I wanted to let Carter sleep in, so I pumped and left a bottle for my mom.  He ended up sleeping until 7:45 am.

Carter ready to cheer us on!

My mom came to my room a little bit before 7:00 am and watched out the window giving me updates on how many runners she saw walking to the starting line.  At 7:15 we decided I should head down to the start because she saw lots of runners going by.  I met up with my dad, Jeremy, and Thomas.  We went to the elevators and each elevator that came to our level was packed.  We started to use the stairs, but there was a sign saying no lobby access from the stairs.  Finally we were able to board an elevator and head to the starting area.  There was plenty of room to walk up toward the front and we found a great spot.  A few minutes to race time we passed our sweats over the fence to my dad.  The temperature was in the low 50's, perfect weather for shorts and a short-sleeved shirt!

Jeremy, Thomas, and me ready for the race start.

We took off running and I was weaving through quite a few people considering how close to the start we were.  I was trying to hold back during the first mile but it was hard, I just wanted to take off!  I went through the first mile in 7:36.  When I saw that split I knew it was time to pull in the reins.  I chunk the race into 4 different 3 mile runs and then the last mile is just on it's own.  My plan for the first 3 miles, or quarter of the race, was to run around 7:50 pace.  I like to pick up the pace each quarter of the run, so I wanted the first quarter to be conservative.  My first 3 miles were 7:36, 7:52, 7:49.  So after that first mile I hit my goal pace.

The second quarter of the race, miles 4-6, were tough for me.  I wanted to run much faster, but I was holding back.  I was afraid to pick up the pace too much before the half-way point.  I didn't want to hit a wall or burn out.  My plan was to pick the pace up to 7:40-7:45 pace.  My splits were 7:40, 7:31, 7:38.  We hit some hills in these miles and also had some nice down hills which lead to the 7:31 mile.  In the back of my mind I was getting excited.  I knew my "secret goal" of breaking 1:40 was 7:38 pace and I was already down to that pace.  I ate a Gu at 6 miles and was ready to take off.

As I finished off my Gu I thought in my head, "Okay, time to unleash the kraken."  It was a silly thing to think, but I was pumped up and ready to go.  Around 6.5 miles a girl ran up beside me, I later found out her name was Sasha, and I started talking to her.  Her goal was to run a PR, which meant breaking 1:43.  I told her we were definitely on pace to be under that.  We ended up running together the rest of the race.  I didn't really have a plan for the 3rd quarter of the race other than to pick up the pace to what felt comfortable.  We ran miles 7-9 in 7:27, 7:14, 7:21.

Running past my parents with my running buddy for the day, Sasha.

I was feeling great and knew I was on pace to break 1:40.  To top that off, as we approached the 9 mile flag I saw my dad, mom, and Carter.  Seeing Carter was just awesome.  I yelled at him and couldn't wait to see him at the finish line to give him a kiss and a hug.  Miles 10-12 were 7:31, 7:16, and 7:04.  When I saw my 7:04 split I knew I had set the bar high.  I like to run my last mile fastest and man, was that fast!  I took off with a mile to go and started passing runners.  I felt strong, but was also ready to be finished.  Mile 13 was 7:00 flat.

Mom and Carter ready to cheer us on!

As I was crossing the bridge toward the finish line I heard someone cheering and looked up to see Jeremy with his finisher's medal around his neck.  I smiled and powered on.  During the last mile I had started to catch up to a few women running ahead of me.  As I approached the finish line they announced some of the top female finishers were coming through.  I crossed the finish line, got my medal, and turned around to see Sasha and cheer her on to the finish.  She walked up and we high fived on an awesome race.  She ran a PR and I ran a postpartum PR, 40 minutes faster than my last half marathon.

My official finishing time was 1:38:07 averaging 7:27 pace and good for 3rd place in my age group, 11th overall female, and 80th/1639 overall!  Jeremy finished in 1:29:19 good for 5th in his age group and 25th/1639 overall.  Thomas finished in 1:56:00 good for 39th in his age group and 388/1639 overall.

The race was relatively flat with a few slight hills.  The weather was perfect and the spectators were amazing.  We are already planning to run this race again.  Now I'm excited to take out a little bit faster at the next half marathon and see if I can break 1:38.  

Linking up with Ashley for Move it Monday!