Pasadena Half Marathon

I'm not sure if Mother Nature is upset with me, but I haven't ran a race since March without rain. Some people may say they don't mind running in the rain, but after my LA Marathon experience, I'm not fond of it at all. I would rather have overcast and a little wind with........NO RAIN! I'm sure I'll get over it at some point, but right now I will stay a "Bitter Beaver" about the whole thing. I don't think I would have ran this race if my friend Jessica wasn't running her first half. We planned this race together, and I was not about to be "Flakey Jakey" over rain. I knew I had to suck it up and be there with her!!

Race weekend started on Saturday for me. Robert and I headed out to the expo in the afternoon for bib pick up. I think he likes going to these now so he can try all the free samples! HA! The expo was very small, bib pick up was easy peasy with nothing to chaotic. We had nothing else planned for the rest of the day, so we decided to go walking for a bit around downtown Pasadena. We stop at our favorite coffee place Intelligentsia and also for cupcakes at Sugar Fix....Delicious!!

Cupcakes & Coffee of Deliciousness

Jessica and I planned on driving together in the morning, so I decided to stay at my parents house since they live closer to her. I hadn't really ate dinner yet, so when I got to their house I mentioned that had a weird craving for wonton soup. This soup is my moms weakness, so I knew she would join me for soup shenanigans! It totally hit the spot and it made a perfect pre race mea! Great meal, with great mom and me time! I was in bed with Nanee (our furbaby) by 10pm. Not as early as I wanted, but it worked.

Nanee not excited that I woke her at 3:30am

Next morning I got to Jessica's house at 4:45am...goodness it was early. We made it to Pasadena in about 30 mins which was perfect to get settle in, and relax a little before the race start. While waiting I could feel drops of rain coming down, it wasn't steady just random large drops falling. I kept saying "please no rain please!!" I had a throw away sweatshirt on but it wasn't water proof, and under it was a WHITE tech shirt.....Yup I chose white because everyone was saying "it's not going to rain tomorow, only 11% chance" You know what happens to white shirts when they get wet? Well if you ever been to any Spring Break vacations you know very well what happens to white shirts when they get wet.. I was now thinking that I would have to run with my throw away for the whole race if the rain didn't let up, or pin my bib up on my chest. Being under trained, the rain, and now a future wardrobe malfunction was actually giving me race jitters. I haven't gotten half marathon race jitters in over a year. I was in for quite the morning!

Jessica and I in the morning ready to go!

The race finally started and we were off. I stayed with Jessica up till about mile 2 which is when I had to ditch my sweatshirt because I was overheating. I had to really ponder getting rid of it, because like is said before WHITE tech shirt. I was hot and it really wasn't raining to much, so off it went. I guess with me trying to take it off my sweatshirt and slowing down, speedy Jessica and I got separated. I told her before the race started that if she lost me for any reason to just go. She's faster then me and I didn't want to hold her back for her first half. There was a slight drizzle up till about mile 5, then it started to really rain. I have to admit I had a small temper tantrum at that point. Now that I think it about it, its sort of funny. There were 2 runners next to me wondering what was going on, I just looked at them and said "I don't like rain" They didn't say a word to me, they just smiled, and went a little faster to get away from the crazy girl cursing at the weather. I knew there was nothing I could possibly do to control the weather but like 5 year old..it made me feel better. So there!

I had set a goal to hit mile 6 under 1:15, I hit it at 1:07 which was perfect. I wanted to keep the pace I had but my legs really started to get heavy. This is when I realized that all this non running mojo stuff was really taking a toll, so I gave myself a pep talk through the next few miles. I was taking advantage of the down hills and making sure to push through the up hills. Mile 7 was my favorite mile, beautiful green trees all around us, and the rain made it so calming (only time I was happy about the rain). I took my ipod off so I could listen to what was going on around me. I could hear the trees moving in the wind and the sound of other runners hitting the wet pavement. You never realize how quite a race really is until you remove your music, it's sort of hard to explain but I'm sure other runners can relate!

I remember when looking at the elevation map the day before that miles 8-10 were all up hill, so I had planned to do run/walk interval for those 2 miles. The rain also decided to stop so that definitely turned my frown upside down! I hadn’t checked my phone at all, so I figure "hill time" was a perfect "check text messages time" When Robert comes to my race we always do a quick "I'm here are you ok".."yup I'm ok, I'll see you at the finish" I feel better knowing he's there, and he feels better hearing from me =)

After mile 10 the race was all down hill WOOHOO! I looked at Mr. G 2.0 and my time wasn’t bad so I thought maybe I could possibly PR by a few minutes. So I pushed as much as I could and kept looking at my time to see if that was even possible. As I turned the corner into the home stretch I saw Jessica and her family cheering me on....she finished in 2:17! Ms Speedy! Then a little ways down was Robert, my photographer for the day! I crossed the finish, looked at my watch...2:34...no PR for me, but man I was very happy with my time. I’m not kidding when I say I didn’t train for this race, so I was a bit shocked that I came even close to a PR.

Almost there......

Finishers!!

So what did Kristy learn from this race? Well I learned that I can do better, but in order to do that I need to train better. I've been in a funk lately about running and was really hoping that this race would help. It totally did and I think I found my mojo again. The weather was meh, but the course was awesome and I honestly did enjoy myself...even during a temper tantrum. Like I said in my previous post, I have 2 more half marathons this month. I will push myself and reach for that PR. I know I can do it I just have to try!...oh and just in case your in suspense, my white tech tee behaved in the rain. I apparently had enough layers to keep my run rated PG-13 for explicit language only!

YIIPPEEEE!!!