Today was the big day of Urban Cow 1/2 marathon 2011. It's an extremely convenient run because it starts in Keith's hometown a mile away from his parents home. We were able to stay with them so I didn't have to worry about parking or getting up too early. I was ready to go!
Last year I completed the 13.1 miles in 2:00:03. Here is the link to last years excitement http://jennifermariez.blogspot.com/2010/10/urban-cow-half-marathon.html.
Even though last year was a huge milestone for me as I completed my first half marathon about 15min faster then expected, I just had to beat that time this year! I found a training plan in Fitness Magazine and got started. I decided that I wanted to run at the Boston Marathon Qualifying pace which is an 8:39 min mile. Somehow I thought this equated to an 1:50 min finishing pace......... wrong. I found out at the first mile that I was running an 8:22 min mile pace. I guess I am not the best number cruncher in the world. I wasn't sure what to do because I didn't train for a pace like that, but I knew Keith would be expecting me to be running along the 1:50 pacer. I managed to keep the pace up for 1/2 of the run, but knew I needed to slow down if I was going to finish this thing. I managed to keep the pacer in sight, but continued to fall behind as time went on. I was sooooo incredibly excited to see Keith at the 10 mile mark. I warned him before hand that I might be in a bad mood after 10 miles of running, but I was wrong. He jumped right in there and encouraged me to keep the pace up for the last 3 miles. Keith's father Ray was cheering me on at the 1/2 mile to go banner and his mother Kathy at the finish line. The best part of the morning was crossing the finish, getting my cowbell, 2 chocolate milks, and visiting with my 3 supporters. I had a wonderful time and I will definitely do it again next year.
Results:
Finish Time: 01:53:35, Pace: 08:40, Overall 663 of 3367, Female 194 of 2085, Female 25-29: 27 of 296
Keith took a few pictures:
Training Plan:
Before:
Warm Up:
Stretching:
Mile 2ish:
Mile 11ish
After:
Thanks for reading
JenniferMarie
Last year I completed the 13.1 miles in 2:00:03. Here is the link to last years excitement http://jennifermariez.blogspot.com/2010/10/urban-cow-half-marathon.html.
Even though last year was a huge milestone for me as I completed my first half marathon about 15min faster then expected, I just had to beat that time this year! I found a training plan in Fitness Magazine and got started. I decided that I wanted to run at the Boston Marathon Qualifying pace which is an 8:39 min mile. Somehow I thought this equated to an 1:50 min finishing pace......... wrong. I found out at the first mile that I was running an 8:22 min mile pace. I guess I am not the best number cruncher in the world. I wasn't sure what to do because I didn't train for a pace like that, but I knew Keith would be expecting me to be running along the 1:50 pacer. I managed to keep the pace up for 1/2 of the run, but knew I needed to slow down if I was going to finish this thing. I managed to keep the pacer in sight, but continued to fall behind as time went on. I was sooooo incredibly excited to see Keith at the 10 mile mark. I warned him before hand that I might be in a bad mood after 10 miles of running, but I was wrong. He jumped right in there and encouraged me to keep the pace up for the last 3 miles. Keith's father Ray was cheering me on at the 1/2 mile to go banner and his mother Kathy at the finish line. The best part of the morning was crossing the finish, getting my cowbell, 2 chocolate milks, and visiting with my 3 supporters. I had a wonderful time and I will definitely do it again next year.
Results:
Finish Time: 01:53:35, Pace: 08:40, Overall 663 of 3367, Female 194 of 2085, Female 25-29: 27 of 296
Keith took a few pictures:
Training Plan:
Before:
Results:
Thanks for reading
JenniferMarie
