I had so much fun running double half marathons at the New Year's Double....so much fun that it is taking me almost a month to tell you about it! I have no good excuse for the late report, I have just been our running and having fun with my frunners. January blahs? Not here!! The New Year's Double was a great concept created by Libby Jones. There were races on New Year's Eve and New Year's Day--you had the option to run any combination of a marathon, half marathon, half marathon relay, or 5K and score a beautiful 3-part medal (one half of the circle for New Year's Eve, the second half on New Year's Day, and a magnetic challenge plate to put of the medals in once you completed the challenge). The race also came with two technical shirts (long sleeve and short) in a most beautiful turquoise color with the cool race logo. It is no secret that I have a love of the half marathon, so that is what Erik and I decided to do.
Lots of hijinks on the course
December was a challenging month for me as far as running goes. I thought that I had taken a proper recovery period after the White Rock Marathon, only to find that I ran 96 miles during the month....oops...not exactly a "recovery". My legs were tired and most of my runs in December felt pretty sluggish. I knew that I would not magically feel energized simply because it was race day again, so my expectation coming in was lower than usual. Couple that with the new challenge of running half marathons just 24 hours apart and I found myself with a fairly conservative race plan. I wanted to run fairly consistently both days, feel good at the end, and have fun.
Music Mary's 2nd Half Marathon
The weather was just about perfect on both days, although New Year's Day was a bit cooler and windier than New Year's Eve. It is crazy that I have been looking for "perfect" weather all racing season and when I finally get it I am too tired to full out race. Isn't that the luck? The race consisted of two six-ish mile loops that were repeated twice so we were constantly seeing friendly faces on the course, it was like a big social run in that way.
Finish Line New Year's Eve
As expected, I felt pretty tired by the middle of the second loop on New Year's Eve. It was frustrating to have that sluggish feeling in my legs--like someone was holding me back--and it reinforced to me that I needed to take a few more days off in order to fully rest and recover. We took good breaks at the water stops and just tried to keep things easy. After the race we headed out to lunch with a big group of frunners and just had a great time laughing and soaking up the sunshine. Erik and I knew that a quick turn-around was important for this race so we made it a point to take an ice bath when we got home. As unpleasant as it may be at first, I have learned that a ten minute ice bath is one of the best recovery tools I have. We spent the afternoon and evening hanging out at home and enjoyed a delicious dinner at a neighborhood Italian restaurant. I wore a running skirt and compression sleeves to dinner--it is like I never left race mode! No exciting New Year's parties for us, it was off to bed to rest up for the next day's race. I did manage to stay up to see the ball drop in Time's Square, but that is as wild as I got!
Team K on the run
Up and at 'em early the next day for round two of our half marathon 'palooza!! New Year's Day was colder and the wind had a bit of a bite so Erik and I waited in the car until a few minutes before the start. One of the best things about this race was the close parking! The first few miles were pretty rough, as I am sure that my body wondered what I was thinking. I felt much better once I got warmed up and we had a great time running with Gretchen and Jonathon (who ran a full marathon the day before). The pace was very laid back and we just enjoyed starting our New Year off in such a healthy and active way. My legs might have felt a little bit better than the day before, but I had discovered some blisters from the previous day that were giving me some trouble. I think that they must have been causing me to adjust my gait because I had some crazy stiff knee that I rarely ever feel. By the end I was taking stretch breaks at each mile, but still felt pretty good considering all of the running I had been doing.
Always run fashionably!
Results:
New Year's Eve 2:09:14
New Year's Day 2:18:52
Finish line New Year's Day
After the race we wrapped up in silver "space blankets" and had more fun times visiting and laughing while we waited for Greg (aka Ninja) to finish his SECOND marathon of the weekend. (Side note: I need to find some lazy friends....). Another big frunner-filled meal followed--seriously, is there a better way to start off the year?
Frunner Girls!
After lunch Erik and I went home to crash for the rest of the afternoon. I ended up taking Monday off from boot camp and a week off from running....and when I ran again the next weekend the sluggish feeling was GONE! Note to self: rest is magic.
This is why we run!
I learned a few lessons from my back-to-back half marathon experience and I'm really looking forward to trying it again sometime. It looks as if we have found ourselves a New Year's tradition!
(Special thanks to Corina, Mary, Heidi, and Erin for the pics!)
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