Last night, Bo and I prepared for the half like we do any long run or race: lots of time on the couch, plenty of carbs, water instead of wine, and an early (for us) bed time.
We kept things very simple last night due to the fact that we were both working and/or on work conference calls most of the day. Boxed pasta, all-natural chicken sausage, jarred marinara sauce, and lots of parmesan makes for a pretty good dinner when you’re in a pinch.
Before going to bed last night, I spent some time reviewing an email Gia sent me with my race plan. Originally, when we started putting together the training plan for this half our goal for me was a 2:10 half as I haven’t run a half faster than 2:13:09 (SunTrust National Half Marathon 2011) since 2007. Back in 2007 I ran the Thunder Road Half down in Charlotte in 2:12 and before that my half PR was 2:07 (Jefferson Hospital Philadelphia Distance Run 2007). Therefore, a 2:10 would still be an age group PR for me and the fastest half I’ve run while in a healthy place. (I weighed 125 when I ran the Thunder Road and Jefferson half marathons – more details here.)
But, as we started training, she felt I had more in me and pushed me a bit harder towards the end of the training plan. Even though this round of training really only lasted 6 weeks due to lots of travel in January and early February, I’ve focused on quality workouts and have spent a lot of hours pushing myself at Barry’s Bootcamp and during my runs.
Her words were simple:
You so have this, draw upon what you have gained in Barry’s … go to the place that you go to when the treadmill is on a 10%incline and you are sprinting.
Our game plan was for me to start out slower than I wanted and once I finished the hills in the park I could cover my Garmin with fun star covered masking tape and let my body do the work. This would keep me from going out too fast since I had explicit directions to check my watch each mile in the park. I’ve killed myself too many times by going out too fast to do that again this time around. I also told myself that I’d practice the tips I preached to Liz which helped her succeed and enjoy her first half yesterday.
Since Theodora attributed her PR yesterday to sparkles, in addition to her hard work, I made a last minute decision to sport the same sparkly skirt that led to a was a PR accessory in Philadelphia this November. (Thanks Shannon for the skirt – it’s clean and ready to be returned now!)
The temperature this morning was colder than I imagined and I have never been more thankful to have a husband who runs. I convinced him to come to my corral versus his speedier group so we could keep each other warm with body warmth since New York Road Runners required us to be in corrals by 7am, though they never collapsed them as promised.
It felt like 23 according to Weather Channel iPhone ap when we lined up but I swear it cooled down as we started running. I was definitely thankful for my good ol’ Sugoi lined tights and making a last minute decision to toss this Champion quarter zip over my Lululemon long sleeve shirt.
At 7:45 the two of us crossed the start line together and gave each other one last positive cheer. We both had goals in our mind: sub 2 for Bo and sub 2:07 for me.
As predicted, the start was pretty crowded and my body was pretty numb. I feared that I’d not feel pain due to the cold and therefore I checked my watch almost ever half mile to make sure I wasn’t going too fast. I also decided that I wanted some pump up jams for this race. With headphones in and cold wind blowing at my face I put my head down, did my best to relax my shoulders, chanted some positive mantras to myself, and decided to break this race into 2 10Ks.
- 10K #1: Focus on my music, breathing, maintaining a steady pace, skip water stations, keep pace over Cat Hill and Harlem Hills, and stay relaxed.
- 10K #2: Focus on finding my friends along the route (Laura and Beth), start taking water at every stop and walk through quickly if needed, remember to take a GU, cover my watch, and zone out but remember that at this point it should start to hurt.
Never ever has a plan worked so well!
Splits for reference:
10K #1:
Mile 1: 9:33
Mile 2: 9:35
Mile 3: 9:14
Mile 4: 9:22
Mile 5: 9:35 – Covered Garmin at this point
Mile 6: 9:04
I took a Vanilla Gu at mile 6.1, took a piece of starred masking tape from my band and covered the Garmin face, found my favorite pump up jam (Everday Birthday) and moved to the right side of the road in hopes of seeing Laura and Beth.
10K #2:
Mile 7: 8:52 (Saw Beth and friends)
Mile 8: 8:40
Mile 9: 9:11
Mile 10: 9:45
Mile 11: 9:28
Mile 12: 9:21
Mile 13: 9:23
Mile 13-13.4: 8:50
Clearly covering the watch worked as I let my pace drop into the low 9 and high 8 minute range. Running through Times Square was even better than I remembered and seeing both Laura and Beth was a great treat. I threw Beth my gloves as I ran past her and gave a huge wave hello. As I hit mile 10 my quads really started to scream. I feared that I was dropping too fast and after some quick math based on the time clock at mile 10 I realized that even if I used mile 10 as a rest mile to gather my breath and take a slower water walk through the station, I could still break 2:10. I did this and then as I crossed the marker to 11 started dropping the pace back to an uncomfortable yet sustainable pace. While I hoped to drop down the last mile a bit more than I did per the above, I gave these 13.4 miles every single thing I had. I fear there will be horrific pictures of me from the last quarter mile, exiting the tunnel, as I know I was making some horrible faces. I was breathing hard and pushing through just ready to be done at this point. It was so great to see some friendly faces (Jen and Liz) during the last push but after running faster than ever before I was ready to be done. 
I peeled the tape off after crossing the line and when I saw the 2:05 time I think I almost started crying.
Damn half marathon PR you’ve alluded me for 5 years and now that I have you I’m more hungry than ever before. Who knows whether I have a sub 2 in me, especially during late Spring and Summer months, but we’ll see!
Within minutes I reunited with Bo and our friends Geoff and Elizabeth. We all had great runs to celebrate including a sub 1:57 run for Bo and a great comeback race for Liz who has been sick for the past week!
In addition, congratulations around to everyone who threw down amazing races this weekend – there are way too many to name but it was such a great weekend for everyone whether it was a PR or a return from injury!
So proud of you and your husband! Awesome racing weekend!
Really great job, Ashley!! If you want to come run a half in San Diego in June you are more than welcome. It’s the Rock and Roll series and I am hungry to start training again!
So happy for you! I’m going to read this again this week to pup myself up! CONGRATS AGAIN!
Congratulations on running a truly amazing race!! It sounds like you had a solid run and really listened to your body. Enjoy your PR and the post race high!
Cingrats Ashley(& to Bo)!!! Hard work definitely doea pay off! So glad you finally hit that PR. What a journey. I think you have a sub 2 in you for sure!! Especially a big sub2 if you made your way to FL for a nice flat winter race 😉
Awesome job Ashley!!! I just found out that I’m moving back to NYC and this half is one of the (many, many, many) reasons I’m so jazzed.
Congrats to you and Bo! So excited for you both!
Congrats!!
YAY YAY YAY I am so excited for you 🙂 You truly earned this!
A-mazing!! What an accomplishment! I can’t imagine a PR being any sweeter than this. Big things are coming your way this year… and by big things I mean a sub 2:00 half!
Congratulations on a huge PR and on going so much faster than you even expected! That’s fantastic. And this idea of covering your Garmin is giving me anxiety just thinking about it, but it sounds like something I could really benefit from. I started my race today too fast and then was hooked to my Garmin for the rest of the race. I’d love to hear more about the psychology behind that this week and what your coach said as well as how you think it changed the race for you.
Amazing and INSPIRING! Congratulations!!!
Wow, this plan is amazing and you totally rocked it. You look so unbelievably happy and proud-hold on to the feeling as long as you can and enjoy it!
Congrats Ashley, that’s awesome! You should be very proud of your hard work, and I do not think I could have done it in that cold weather! Awesome.
YOU ARE AMAZING!!!!!! Congratulations Ashley!
Woo-hoo! Congrats on the PR — especially with it being 23 degrees at the start. I definitely see a sub-2 race in your future.
Congrats on a fantastic PR, Ashley! I was exhausted and thought I had completely missed my goal so I wasn’t very smiley, but it was so good to see a familiar face at the end of the race!
Fantastic, Ashley! Congrats on the PR!!
I’m so freaking proud of you! You did AMAZING! I knew you had this in you and you definitely have a sub-2 in you, too! Just keept pushing yourself and believing in yourself and ANYTHING is possible!!! CONGRATS, ASH!!!
Congratulations! What an awesome PR! And an even better feeling to see your hard work pay off. I bet you have a sub 2 in you!
Congratulations on finally catching that elusive PR! You definitely have a sub-2 hour in you! Get it girl!
Rock on Ashley! That is fantastic!
Congratulations on your new PR Ashely, that is so exciting! I hope you’re having fun celebrating 🙂
Congrats, Ashley and Bo! I’ve been reading your blog for awhile now and based on what I gather from your posts, we are neighbors:) I actually saw you guys waiting for a cab on Sunday AM as I was driving by in my friend’s car on my way up to Central Park for the Half! My 2 friends and I also PR’d so I guess it was a good race for everyone!
Congratulations!!! What a great accomplishment. Hope you’re savoring it today!
I’m so proud of you!!! And Bo too!
Congratulations! Such a fantastic race. Enjoy celebrating that shiny new PR, I don’t think it will be around for long. 🙂
Congratulations!!! That was an awesome race!
congratulations ashley on your pr, that is awesome!!
Big well done on your brand shiny new PR! 🙂
I think this needs to be my next plan…ensure I start slow then cover my watch and just run!
Congrats Ash! Your hardwork paid off!
Congrats on an awesome run! Love your blog!
Congrats on an awesome race! Love your blog!