The Inaugural “Race 13.1 Greensboro”

I ran the inaugural Race 13.1 Greensboro today. I wasn’t feeling well when I went to bed last night (headache, upset stomach) and then I barely slept all night so I was really not feeling the race. While driving over, I told John that I wished I was just a spectator today and that I’m done racing for the season. hahaha. I tried to pep up.

Maizey also was not feelin’ the early morning. Grump.ster. (Also: why is she obsessed with sleeping in this weird corner nook?? She does it all the time.) She got out of bed and then fell back asleep about 45 seconds later. Tough boxer life I tell ya.

The race started at Friendly Center in Greensboro. Again, I was tempted to skip the race and head into J.Crew and Anthropologie instead, but alas, they were closed. I digress. Ok, back to the topic.

This was a great race; I was particularly impressed considering it was the first year. It was very well organized and had tons of volunteers and ample water stops. It was an out and back course with a lot of rolling hills. There were about 5 miles (I think?) in the middle that was on a flat, fast greenway which was awesome. But then back to rolling hill, including a couple brutal ones. But, overall, fewer hills than the Raleigh half!

The race had long-stretches and few turns so it was great for finding your rhythm. The u-turn at the half-way point wasn’t ideal, but it was fine since it was the only one. I hate races that have tons of turns (cough, Raleigh, cough) and tons of U-turns (cough, Cherry Blossom, cough). So this definitely get bonus points for a primarily straight-away course.

Additional bonus points for ample parking, ample port-a-potties and timing chips built into the bibs. (I can’t believe all races don’t do this yet.)

What I didn’t like: they used styrofoam cups; they didn’t distinguish between water and gatorade so you had to call out to make sure you got the right one (learned this the hard way); and the prizes were a little disorganized at the end. (The race director mixed up the first three overall females and they had to mail out age-group awards rather than present in person.) All minor hiccups in my mind though; it was a great race overall.

I knew I was one of the top 10 females for most of the race, but struggled the first few miles to loosen up and find my rhythm. I went out around 7:40. Once we hit the turnaround point, I saw I was the fifth female. I also had other runners telling me I was fifth as I was running back against the crowd and cheering me on to pass the fourth female. It was such a supportive field of runners. At one point on the greenway, there was water on the trail, and you had to run across some stones to stay dry. The group of runners that were still headed out on the course stopped to let those of us headed back go first. I thought that was really really considerate.

I didn’t know what my pace was on the greenway headed back (I hardly looked at my Garmin today), but I felt great and felt like I was flying so I just went with how I felt. (I just looked up my splits on my Garmin and I was running a 7:00-7:06 minute pace.) But, once we hit the hills coming back, oooof. I struggled and dropped down to an 8:30 pace on some of the hills. When there were spectators, I had a little more power going up, but there were a lot of long, lonely stretches where I couldn’t see anyone else because the field was pretty spread out in front of me and there were no people out cheering.

For some reason, I had it in my head that I ran the Raleigh half in 1:39, so when I did some quick math about 3 miles out and thought I could easily hit 1:37, I was stoked. And then I finished in 1:34:36 (chip time) and was THRILLED thinking I’d beat my PR by 5 minutes.

John told me I ran 1:35 at Raleigh, but I was convinced I did 1:39. It wasn’t until I realized my Twitter profile already said 1:35 that I believed him (because, obviously, Twitter doesn’t lie) and then I looked up my time. Sure enough, I ran Raleigh in 1:35:50. So, I was pretty disappointed after realizing that I didn’t kill my PR by that much. But hey, it’s still a PR!! And I’m excited to be under 1:35!

My official time was 1:34:36, average pace 7:13. I was 4th overall female and first in my age group. Well, actually maybe I wasn’t 4th overall. When I finished, they told me I was, but now the results are showing another female in front of me? Regardless, 4th or 5th overall, I’ll take it! John ran 1:26:15, average pace 6:35. He was 4th overall and first in his age group too. Freaking fast that man.

After the race, we changed into dry clothes and then got quick massages at the finish line. The woman doing my massage freaked out over a really large knot in my left hamstring. She asked if I’d been having knee issues, and I have been having knee issues off and on… it really bothers me walking up and down stairs lately. So she worked that a good bit and sent me away with a stern warning to stretch and get it worked out. She had me reach up to feel the knot…it was pretty nasty. And my knee was spasming as she stretched me. yikes! Who wants to send me a package of massage certificates?? Anyone? Anyone? Bueller?

We headed to Whole Foods for post-race fuel (super convenient it was in the same parking lot as the finish line). Big heaping of eggs, fruit and sautéed peppers and onions with a green kombucha.

And obviously hot sauce for my eggs. It actually wasn’t spicy at all. Lame.

My stomach started bothering me, per usual after a long run. It feels like acid is burning my insides. (It wasn’t the not-hot hot sauce…) Since I stopped using fuels like Gu or Shotbloks (I use banana baby food now), it’s not nearly as bad. I used to feel crazy sick for hours post-run. If I get an upset stomach at all. I usually eat a Tum or two after a long run and it goes away.

I came home, hijacked some Epsom salts from John (thanks love!), and took a nice long bath, and then a shower.

And then downed this bar that I picked up at Whole Foods, along with a big glass of water.

I think this is the bar I’ve seen reviewed on blogs lately. It’s so hard to find a GF, dairy-free, soy free protein bar and this fit the bill! I got the chocolate coconut; John got the chocolate saviseed. Both were good, but I’d buy the flavor he got next time. This bar is definitely something I’d buy again; I don’t eat a lot of protein bars, but it’s nice to have the option in a pinch.

And now I’m relaxing in my guest room. I’m kind of obsessed with relaxing in my guest room for some reason. I love my bedroom but my guest room feels really cozy for lounging.

These new Roxy linen pants are also cozy for lounging. Zappos, $39, bam.

I poured myself a small glass of Pinot and am nibbling on some chocolate. And I’m about to dive back into Insurgent on my kindle. 🙂

Have a great afternoon!!

How do you treat yourself post-race? I love a hot bath, wine and chocolate. Who doesn’t?! And I’m having friends over for dinner tonight for Mexican food (homemade tortillas!) and margaritas (my first time making them!).

Any margarita tips? This is the recipe I was planning to follow.

Any homemade tortilla tips? I figure the tortilla press will do most of the work. 🙂