Thunder Road Half Marathon, Charlotte, NC

Saturday morning I ran the Thunder Road Half Marathon in Charlotte. It was rather cold out, I think at the starting line temps were about 30 degrees. I had a great race. Another PR! We're back home and I'm worn out. No cross training today because by the time we got home and unpacked the car I wasn't feeling it. Plus my knee has been bothering me since about mile 6 yesterday so I'm resting today. And eating. Can't seem to stop eating, and that would be things that I shouldn't be eating (cookies damn you!).

Friday was a whirlwind of packing in the morning, potty training (2 for 2 - two accidents and two tinkles on the potty). By Noon I was tired and ready for a nap. Same for Sophie.

We got to Uptown Charlotte, the Charlotte Convention Center, about 3 pm. We parked at the Nascar Hall of Fame and I went accross the street to get our race packets (Ricky was running the 5k). Ricky stayed in the car with Sophie and the dogs.

The expo wasn't very busy at all so I got our packets right away. I even lingered to buy a few items. I wanted to browse longer but I knew our dogs were probably barking at every person that walked within 15 feet of our car so I cut it short.

Then we were off to my sisters house in Stanley, NC (which is a small town outside of Charlotte). I have no pictures of anyone in my family because I suck at remembering my camera and it was somewhere at the bottom of my bag.

It was a hectic night of trying to get Sophie to sleep in a bed that wasn't hers but she eventually fell asleep with me and Ricky. We didn't attempt to move her.

5 am my alarm went off and I was getting ready. We needed to leave the house about 6:15 to make it downtown (it's really uptown), park and get to the starting line. Weren't sure about traffic and finding a place to park.

It ended up being very easy to find a parking spot at the Westin Hotel parking garage. They even opened up their lobby for runners to find warmth and use the facilites. Thanks Westin!

We made it to the starting line and I got into my corral. I chose the 2 hour pace time because I just wasn't sure how this was going to go. Charlotte has hills and I didn't have the greatest week so I was playing it safe.

I tossed my fleece and the gun went off. As usual the start is very crowded so I had a hard time getting around people. I even ran past my old office building. I miss it. I used to work for Wachovia (now Wells Fargo) in one of the high rise buidlings uptown. They've done a lot to the area, it's so nice and clean, I really miss it (did I mention I miss it?).

Mile 1 - 9:02
Mile 2 - 9:10
Mile 3 - 8:51

I have to say I was worried about hills but at the start we went downhill a ton. This was nice but I knew those hills were coming at some point. I felt good at the start.

Mile 4 - 8:48
Mile 5 - 9:08
Mile 6 - 8:55

Somewhere between mile 5 and 6 I tried to side step some water cups and I felt something funky in my left knee that had me slowing down. Didn't hurt as much as it felt like I twisted something so it felt....tender I guess is a good word.

Mile 7 - 8:48
Mile 8 - 8:59
Mile 9 - 8:36

I ate some of my engery chews early on, I think about mile 4 because we encountered some hills. I ate two more at mile 7 to help me with getting over the hills.

Mile 10 - 8:33
Mile 11 - 8:38
Mile 12 - 8:46

I took two more energy chews at mile 10 and then two more at mile 12. Miles 11-12 were mostly uphill and I think I possibly groaned out loud at some point. It really felt like it was never going to end. Mile 13 was tough too because you rounded a corner and went up again until you finally saw the finish line.

Mile 13 - 8:28
.1 - sprint to the finish - 7:31

Done!!

Garmin:
13.22
1:56:27
avg pace 8:48

Chip Time:
13.1
1:56:23
avg pace 8:53

Overall Place 868 / 2494

Gender Place 296 / 1353

Division Place 59 / 256

I'm thrilled to PR again. I really was shooting for 2 hours but when I hit 6 miles and still felt strong (aside from the knee thing) I knew I could beat my previous half marathon time.
 
Ricky and my dad were there at the finish (still no camera, darn). We walked through the victory village, grabbed some free stuff and food and then headed home to hang out with the family.
 
This is my last race till the marathon and I really want to try and find one more half to run because I'm having a great time with it. It almost, ALMOST, makes me want to change to the half marathon in January and really focus on running it faster. But I know I'll regret it if I do that.
 



Parking garage picture when I realized I had my camera.



Being a dork, or looking like I'm constipated.