Capital City Half Recap

Ohhhhhh CCM. How excited I was to run my first race in Oly! I trained hard and was doing well til everything went down with Pops. Training took a serious backseat! I decided this past Thursday to sign up and run it anyway. I knew I wouldn't touch my half PR time but that was ok. I just wanted to finish it sub 2 with a smile on my face.

Saturday I picked up my race packet. I was so nervous. Picking up my bib meant I was really gonna do it! Ran into a few people I knew. Walked up on a conversation that ended with "here she comes" which made me feel really uncomfortable. Old insecurity issues came rushing back. It kind of put a damper on the excitement I always feel at race bib pick up. Hubby reminded me that I have no way of knowing what that conversation as about. It could have been about my Dad passing. It could have been about me being a flaky weirdo. I dunno. In the scheme of things, I guess it's not important. Here's my obligatory race bib pick up photo!

I spent the day chilling with my guys. Went to bed early that night after laying out all my gear. I woke up nice and early Sunday morning. Had my mashed yams, kraut, fried egg and black cuppa coffee. Pooped 87 times (yay race belly) and hit the road. I LOVED that this race is like 10 minutes from my house! Yay on that. Got there, met up with a few friends, took a few pics, used the porta potty and it was time to line up. I knew there were VERY fast runners running in this race so I found the 1:45 pacers and got a nice distance behind them at the start line. The count down started and we were off.

The course was nice. I put my tunes on and just ran for the most part. I varied my pacing...figured as long as I could roll with under 9 minute miles, I'd be ok. I ran hard a few times and I reigned it in a few times. I became obvious pretty quickly for me that this indeed was NOT the race I'd set a new PR on. I chatted a few times with other runners but as always, it's hard for a runner who's going solo to make new runner friends during an actual race!

I drank water sparingly which was a big mistake on my part. I was scared of having bladder issues and didn't want to overdo it on the hydrating during my race. I got pretty tired about half way in. Felt like I was flagging pretty good. I ate some carb chews every mile or so but those weren't doing much of anything. I had a nice surge of energy on a downhill part which I used to make up for some lost time. I had a good clip going then nature called and I realized if I didn't use the next available bathroom, I'd regret it. I stopped to pee and honestly that was it...I bonked hard after that. I had periods where my legs felt like cement blocks. I thought about walking but reminded myself that I have NEVER walked in half and I wasn't starting now. I focused on putting one foot in front of the other.

I came up on another group of spectators and saw a sign with my name on it...I thought "hmmm...must be another Lisa running too" then I looked closer. It was my AMAZING friend Rochelle! She made a sign for me and was cheering me on. Boy, I need that. It put a little spring back in my stride.

Finally after what felt like 4 hours, I noticed we were nearing the finish line and that we were on a downhill again. Sadly, I didn't have enough juice to kick it all the way down but I did muster enough to get a good pace across the finish line. My guys were there screaming and cheering me on. I crossed the finish, got my medal, kissed my guys and THEN came the calf cramping. Holy ouch. My official time was 1:56:50. Not awful with the bathroom stop and bonk.

I made myself eat some post race pizza and a mini cupcake though I truly didn't want to eat. Stayed for a while to see a few peeps then headed home for a much needed shower. I got dressed and demanded to be taken out for lunch. We hit up a local brewery for post race carbs. Headed to the farmers market after and by that point I was dead on my feet.

Came home, took a 2 hour nap and work up with a headache from hell. I'm still not feeling right this morning so I know I truly bonked on yesterday's run. Today I'm resting, refueling and stretching. Tomrorow I'll go run again and see how I feel. :)


CCM pros--
Well run, awesome spectator participation, great post race food, awesome volunteers, pretty course, close to home, cool medals and swag

CCM cons--
Zero complaints!