Vegan Road Runner: On the Run: Detroit Free Press 1/2 Marathon 2012

Sunday, October 21, 2012

On the Run: Detroit Free Press 1/2 Marathon 2012

Jaime and me before the race.

Today I ran my 5th half marathon of the year and while I didn't get too geeked about the other 4, there's something about the Free Press race that seems larger than life. Maybe it's because it's an international race that crosses the Ambassador Bridge into Canada and back through the tunnel. That's pretty unique. In addition to the half marathon there are 4 additional races so it's a huge event with something like 24,000 runners. Plus I had a lot of friends running today so there was that sense of camaraderie that I didn't necessarily have with the other races. Not to mention all the hype surrounding the race!

And, with this being my last half of the season, I was putting some pressure on myself for one final PR. I ran the Brooksie Way three weeks ago in 1:33:33 so my goal was 1:33:00. I finished today in 1:32:37. Ohhhh yeah!

I started out with a 1:35 pace group (7:15/mile) because I wasn't sure how I would do with crowds at the beginning and the bridge. I was the only girl in the group, which I thought was pretty damn cool. Around mile 6 I decided it was time to pick up the pace so I gradually started to speed up. By the time I exited the tunnel at mile 8, I'd gone rogue. I found myself a running buddy who was doing legs 1-2 of the relay but he ended up going all the way to the finish line after the exchange point. He really helped push me to reach my goal at the end. A little bit better than my goal, actually! Wahoo!