When we planned a blogger dinner the night before my race, at first I didn’t know if I should attend. But then I figured that I had to eat anyway and who better to eat with (well, besides Jason) than other bloggers. Originally there were supposed to be about 9 of us but several people ended up not being able to attend, so it was only five of us that had dinner at Eclipse di Luna last night.
After going to Seasons 52 for the first two blogger dinners, we decided that we needed a change of scenery. Eclipse di Luna is a tapas restaurant. Normally I’m not sure a huge fan of tapas because I don’t seem to get enough food. People usually order meat-centered dishes which I’m not able to eat. I actually suggested this restaurant for last night though. And I definitely had enough food and most everything that everyone ordered I could eat! We had, amongst other things, hummus, ceviche, tuna tartar, caprese salad, a little pizza and yucca fries. I think the yucca fries were my favorite.
Me, Tina, Emily, Alayna and Kelly.
We tried to get our waitress to take a table shot of us and, for some reason, she held the camera at her belly button and cut out poor Alayna!
Blogger meetups are fun! I think we should do them like once a month. Anyone agree with me there?
We stayed at the restaurant for about two hours. When I got home, I prepared all of my race gear and went to bed. Per the norm before a race, I didn’t sleep well. I think I was worried that I’ll oversleep. Or maybe I was just worried about the race in general. Who knows?
Racing this time of year is tricky. The mornings are pretty chilly but after the sun comes up, it gets much warmer out. I wasn’t sure if I should wear short sleeves or long sleeves. Yahoo weather said it was 39 degrees out when I got up, so I put on a long sleeved shirt.
I got to the race, parked my car at a middle school where we were supposed to park and walked nearly a mile to the start. I don’t know why they had us park so far away! I immediately ran into my friend Dave when I got to the packet pickup. They had a new type of timing chip this year. At least, it was new to me. It looked like a D-tag on the back of your number, but you didn’t remove it and put it on your shoe; you just left it attached to your number.
The beginning of the race was congested. There were people holding pace signs, but I wasn’t able to make my way to the 10 minute mile group, so I ended up standing behind the 11 minute mile sign. I definitely had to weave in and out of people for the first few miles. This race is on a trail so it’s narrow. But after Mile 3 or so, it thins out since everyone around you is mostly running at the same pace. It’s an out and back, but no one is coming back just quite yet. I did see my first person coming back as I passed Mile 5. (The turnaround was a little past mile 7.)
The first couple of miles passed by really quickly. Isn’t it weird how you can run a 5K and it seems to take a long time to get to the end, but in a longer race, the first 5K passes incredibly fast? At least, that’s what happens to me. I took a Gu at Mile 5.
As I was nearing the turnaround, I passed the time by looking for Dave. It’s kind of fun to see your friends on the course while one of you is going out and the other is coming back.
I felt totally fine until Mile 9. Then I just wanted it to be over. My pace definitely slowed around this point and I could feel the infamous underboob chafe and a blister forming on my right foot. I really wanted to walk around Mile 11, so I let myself take two tiny walk breaks. Not sure if they helped or not. I also took another Gu to try to gain some energy.
The last mile seemed to take FOREVER. It was at this point where I really questioned if I want to sign up for something that’s double this distance. I’m still not sure. Half-marathons are hard enough! After what felt like an eternity, the finish line was finally in view. I wasn’t sure what my time was but tried to give it my all. When I crossed the finish line, the time clock read 2:15:45 or so!
PR. 2:15. I did it. After 5 years of not achieving the elusive half-marathon PR, I finally did it! Seriously, do you know how frustrating it is to PR in your first race? I’m pretty sure that I started at least a minute after the start gun, so I think I beat my 2:15 goal too. Yay.
There were shuttles to take everyone back to the parking lots, but the line was long and I thought that walking would be good for my legs, so I decided to walk about 3/4 of a mile back to my car. Jason said that he would cook me pancakes or that we would go out to eat, so the entire time, I thought about what I wanted. Pizza sounded good.
I got home and took a shower and somehow ended up crawling into the bed and sleeping for two hours. Jason had to be at work at 1:30, so there went the pizza idea! Oh well.
Now I’m going to spend the rest of the afternoon lounging on the couch. I think I deserve it!
CONGRATS!!! You did awesome.. I had some foot pain that kinda held me back and I finished around 2:19, I bet we ran near each other at one point and didn’t even know it.
I think I saw you near the turnaround! Were you wearing green shorts?
hahaha YEP!!!
way to go!! enjoy that couch time – you earned it
Congrats!!!!! Awesome job!
Wish I could have made the dinner! Next time.
“infamous underboob chafe” – this made me LOL.
Congrats on your race & especially your PR!
That blogger dinner looks so fun, I wish I lived in an area that was populated with more bloggers!
Congratulations!! You definitely deserve long relaxation time on the couch
The blogger meetup looked like so much fun!
yay, congrats! some lounging is definitely in order.
Yay!!!! Congrats on the PR!!!
Congrats on the PR! I’m with ya on the full marathon – just 13.1 seems like enough at this point for me!
I love a good blogger dinner. Sometimes it’s nicer to have a smaller group. I tend to organize the ones with the group here in Cleveland, so I try to do every month, but we usually end up every other month. We just had one last week and I’m planning a Holiday Treat Swap for December. YUM.
Congratulations, Lee!!! That’s so exciting. Woo hoo for a great race!!
SO glad you had fun at the blogger meet up. How could it not be with those ladies?
Blogger dinner was fun, we should do that more often. Congratulations on your PR! I still can’t imagine doing that distance right now, maybe someday.
CONGRATS LEE!! I think the blogger dinner was good luck!
Just kidding, you totally did that all on your own, so proud of you!!!! I had a great time hanging out with you ladies at dinner. So glad you enjoyed all the food, I think the yucca fries were my favorite as well!!
That start area was a mess, wasn’t it? You’d think after 10 years of putting this on that it’d be smoother.
I suspect one of the reasons you had trouble with the last 5K or so is that it’s mostly uphill. The incline is really gradual, but it’s definitely there.
Great job! (And forgive the comment from a stranger, but I was Googling for race reviews and your blog came up.)
I like getting comments from strangers! Is it really uphill in the end?
You bet it is. Pretty much steadily uphill from mile 9 to mile 12. Something like 120 feet of elevation change, depending on which mapping app you use.
Personally I love the USATF (USA Track & Field) site. I map out most of my long runs there. Check out the Silver Comet route map here: http://www.usatf.org/routes/view.asp?rID=253938
And congrats on the PR, btw! That’s always a big deal.
COngrats on the PR, that’s awesome!
How awesome! Congrats on PR!!!! I love that distance and it sounds like you rocked it out of the park.
Yay for the PR!!! That’s awesome, Lee! I bet that nap felt amazing. And I hope you got some pizza sometime this weekend.
I would be down for once a month. Not sure if I could always make it, but it would be fun to have a more regular meet up. That way we have more chances to see each other, especially since its so hard to coincide one date every few months that everyone can do.
NICE JOB on the PR!!!! I am so happy for you! That is amazing! What a year of PR’s for you huh? So cool. And PS. SO jealous of your blogger dinner, I totally want to crash one…y’know if I could just hop a flight on down or something
First up – the blogger dinner looks like so much fun! Em is looking so adorable all preggers
Glad you enjoyed the food too. Second- CONGRATS on the PR. That is just so so awesome. yayyyy!
I used to live in Southern MD- near the military base
I didn’t know there was a silver comet half! That’s awesome, congrats!! I would love to meet up with you girls for the next ATL blogger meet up! Looks like you had a fantastic time!!
Looks like a fun meetup. You have a large group of ATL bloggers! Way to go on the PR!! I know how you feel about PRing during your first race. There is NO way I will ever beat my first half marathon time.
How fun, I wish there were bloggers in my town to meet up with!
Yay, Lee! Congrats on an awesome race! I knew you had the PR in you
CONGRATULATIONS! Such a huge accomplishment! And of course GREAT blogger meet up – really enjoyed it and would be all for more frequent meet-ups!
CONGRATULATIONS, Lee!!! That is so exciting!!
congrats on the PR!! sounds like a great race and a fun time with the bloggers.