Quincy Half Marathon RR OR how Ana-Maria went sub 1:30

Stats:
1:28:46; 6:46/mile; 4th woman overall/ maybe 400?; 3rd AG 1-39 (seriously, is this an AG?)
BTW, for everyone needing inspiration, the winner was 40+ and went 1:25!

Here is how it went down;

Mile 1: 6:53
Mile 2: 6:54
Mile 3: 6:50
Mile 4: 6:59 - last .25 start of a .78 mile hill
Mile 5: 7:00 - ending that hill
Mile 6: 6:43
Mile 7: 6:48
Mile 8: 6:50
Mile 9: 6:46
Mile 10: 6:50 - 1 .25 hill
Mile 11: 6:53 - 1 .25 hill
Mile 12: 6:44
Mile 13: 6:20 - last .5 downhill
Last bit: 4:56 - downhill

My secret goal for this race was to average a 6:52, which is what McMillan told me I could do after last weekend's 5K. I also wanted to start a bit faster than normal, and get on pace right away. The race was not chip timed so I placed myself in the second line, after warming up for 1 mile. Immediately I saw Mary about 100 feet in front of me, and decided that I would try to keep her in sight. The first 2 miles were rolling and windy; my legs felt off. I told myself to keep going and that my legs need to warm up. I ran the race in a pair of Pearl Izumi Streak II shoes which I received on Friday from Outside PR, and loved so much that I decided to wear without testing them on a run before. They are awesome (review soon).

Back to the race. Miles 2-4 were flat. I started feeling better, and just maintained the pace while getting closer to Mary. A tough hill about .75 mile long started at 4.5 mile and I felt great on it and started going on my own, passing a few people. I always though hills are not my strength as I have a butt and it feels like is dragging me down. But recently I have been feeling awesome on hills. There was a nice downhill thereafter and I pushed the pace hard. I love the downhills and I can run them very well. By mile 6 I started to feel great. Miles 6-8 were flat and I knew that, so kept plugging along without worry that my lap/mile pace was faster than I wanted it to be. I ran with a couple of women for a while, one had passed me before the hill, and the other one faded by mile 8. I took a gel before mile 8 (took one before the race as well), as I knew there will be a series of short but steep hills up to mile 12.5. In my head, I decided the races ended at mile 12.5. From mile 9 on, I had periods of time when my legs felt tired, and then periods of time when I felt great. At mile 10 someone told me I was the 3rd woman. I could see one woman in front of me, about .25 ahead, and decided to see if I can catch here while not going way too fast. I knew by this point that I could break 1:30, as the course was accurate, if not a bit short (it is certified though, and I did run all the tangents). I caught the woman at mile 12, and I sped up. Last year I ran the last mile @ 6:40 (it has a good downhill from 12.5 to 13) and this year I wanted to go faster than that. Plus, once I passed that woman, I wanted to go super fast as to not have her fight back. So I pushed hard and ended up with a 6:20 mile. Happy. As I approached the finish I saw the clock and could not believe my eyes. Happy, happy, happy!

And now the challenge is going to be to get really excited for triathlon training. Chris is a bit skeptical that I am going to stick with triathloning so I have to prove him wrong:)

At the end of the race I got a chance to talk to Mary and Kristina who both PRed (and who have great blogs, by the way!)

And now, I rest my running legs for a bit!