2013 vs. 2012

What a difference a year makes! My parents and I completed our 3rd annual family 1/2 marathon this past weekend, and nearly a year to the date from the 2012 race, the runs couldn't have been more different!

2012 Recap:

My sister, mom, dad, and I run the USA Rock 'N Roll 1/2 Marathon. I hadn't really 'trained' for the race, only running 1 or 2 times a week. I (stupidly) believe that since I had run a 1/2 marathon in 2009 I would be fully prepared (hah!) with or without strict training. I throw-up twice on the course and feel sick the rest of the day. And I run a 2:04:46, 10 minutes slower than my 1st 1/2 marathon (1:54:26).

And after seeing this picture, I realize how chubby I've gotten.

2013 Recap:

My parents and I run the Myrtle Beach 1/2 Marathon. (My sister is currently living in Australia so she couldn't join us, but she's running Brisbane in March!) I've consistently trained for this race, logging at least 20 miles a week with a long run of at least 10 miles. I've started to incorporate speed work and I welcome hills and bad weather as an opportunity to push myself.

Perhaps I have lost weight from running. (see picture above)

The Myrtle Beach course is flat as a pancake, and the 40 degree 6:30am start feels practically balmy after morning runs in the frosty 20 degree NYC temps. Wonders of wonders, I don't have to stop and go to the bathroom (a rare occurrence with my anxious belly), and I feel absolutely GREAT the entire time.

And I run 16 minutes faster than the year before, clocking in at 1:48:35.

Hey, shiny new PR! That's a 6 minute PR from my 1st 1/2 in 2009 and more than a minute/mile faster than the awful race in 2012! I was really proud of my splits- outside of a slow first mile (course review coming soon), I was able to stay fairly consistent from mile to mile, even seeing a slight negative split!

How flat can a course be?

I placed 23rd in my age group (out of 201) based on gun time (really, what race uses gun time?!?), but based on chip time, I placed 21st! That's probably the first and last time I'll place in the top 10%... small town races can be really good for your psyche ;)

Now I'm excited to get to work for my new 'hometown' race... the NYC 1/2 Marathon on March 17th! The NYC course will be VERY different from Myrtle Beach (hello Harlem Hills!), so I'll really have to work to match my pace in Myrtle Beach. Plan of attack to come soon!

P.S. If you noticed... yes I caved and I bought those Lulu shorts. They were sold out in my size online as well as in stores... or so I thought. I was out shopping with my boyfriend and when I noticed a Lululemon across the street from J.Crew, I had to pop in and check! And guess what? They had only 2 pairs of shorts left in the store- and 1 of them was in my size!! And I couldn't leave the store without them after all that talking and searching, could I? ;)