When I learned that Lou would be out-of-town this weekend I signed up to run the Ocean’s Run 1/2 Marathon in South Kingston, RI. I had been eyeing this one anyway figuring that since I was already trained to run a 1/2 marathon off the bike this would be a breeze. What I didn’t count on was that I would have what felt like depression for almost two weeks after my half ironman. In the two weeks between the Pumpkinman and the Ocean’s Run I had run just once and spent two one-hour sessions on an elliptical. The night before the Ocean’s Run I was questioning my wisdom. If Laura hadn’t committed to running with me, I would have hit the permanent snooze button when it went off at 5:15AM. Now that it’s over though, I’m glad that I didn’t do that. This race was exactly what I needed to knock me out of my rut. My pace felt faster than normal but since I wasn’t watching the clock I didn’t know for sure. We stopped to use the bathroom at mile 7, walked through every aid station, slowed my pace at mile 9 when my knee wouldn’t stop hurting (probably didn’t stretch well enough), and race-walked for about 1-2 minutes twice between miles 10 and 12. Even so, I PR’d my half marathon pace (10:27) and finished in 2:16:30 (also a PR). It’s a pretty huge difference from my very first half marathon (Pittsburgh 2011), when my pace was 11:35. I was also pleased with my dietary results. Yesterday I pre-loaded electrolytes, stayed away from fiber and carb-loaded. This morning I had my normal race-morning breakfast, ate half packet of gel every two miles and took water and/or Hammer at every station. I was a little hungry when I reached the finish line but not famished. I ate an orange segment, half a white bagel, a bottle of water, and (eventually) a small bowl of NE clam chowder with crackers. I had another bottle of Nuun on my way home and had a bowl of cheese ravioli with red sauce and shrimp for dinner. Because I hadn’t trained much in the two weeks leading up to the race my legs are feeling more sore than after the Pumpkinman, but I think that after a hot tub and a good night sleep they’ll be ready to resume marathon training on Tuesday.
Laura and me at the finish