Race Report: Newport Half Marathon

The team

Haven't had these in a while but i like reading these after the fact (good or bad) so I'm gonna do one.

Cheer squad

Newport 1/2 marathon
Newport, nj

The good: I finished
The bad: worst time ever-2:51
The ugly: lots of walking

I ran this race because last year I came to cheer my friend B run her first 1/2 marathon. It was a super chilly fall morning and perfect for running. I was however 7 months pregnant so I was coach and cheerleader but told myself next year I was doing it. Fast forward to this year and there I was on a muggy humid 75ish Sunday morning with husband and daughter cheering me on at the start line. B was there for a repeat and we persuaded M to train and run this for HIS first 1/2 marathon. Unlike the BK half which I ran earlier in march of this year I did a better job training - even purchasing a jogging stroller so I could take winter with me on my runs. So I was optimistic I'd beat my 2:34 time I had in brooklyn.

starting out strong

Fat chance. We started out strong for the first 5 miles - hovering around a 10min pace but I succumbed to exhaustion just before mile 6 and trailed behind B and M. I tried to tell myself to just run slower but I was also aching from the waist down. It was uncomfortable to jog it out so i just said I'll walk mile 6 and then pick it up afterwards. Walking (when you don't plan on it) felt defeating - everyone's passing you now and just felt so slow. So then I tried to jog again and it  wasn't cutting it. So i started walking again. After I reached the waterfront around mile 7 I pretty much gave up hope of finishing with a decent time and tried to craft a strategy to finish quicker than just walking the rest. I tried pointing out landmarks and saying "run to that" or timing my runs "run for 5 min and walk for 1" and pretty much kept that up until I finally crossed the finish line almost 3 hours later.  The worst. 

RUNFAIL at mile 8

Training: I had an 8 week plan that I pretty much followed 80% of the way (definitely hitting the long runs though - even the 10 miler) however a foot injury the week before the race pretty much negated my taper week. I had to switch my kicks to Aasics Kayano which are super comfortable but heavier than the New Balances I've been so accustomed to.

What I learned: there's a first time for everything.  There are bad runs and there are BAAAD runs. Yes I finished but I don't think that was ever a question. I trained more for this than I did for the BK half which I realize was probably running off of adrenaline more than anything. I remembered i could barely walk for a week after that race. After this race, I was slightly sore the next day but two days after I was fine (yay training).   All I can think of is redeeming this performance but I'm not in a rush so I think I'll seek out shorter distances for the remainder of the year and focus on another half next year.   I'm glad I did this race though and I would love to do it again next year -it is a beautiful flat course and has a very local feel to it that I would recommend runners and first timers to check it out.