My racing chapter in Alaska has come to a close. Sunday was my last race in Alaska, and I came away with the win, which a nice way to end my time there.
When I first came to Anchorage 15 years ago, my first race was the Mayor’s Half Marathon. I ran it in a time of 1:39:02 and was 10th place for the women. Now I close out my racing career in Anchorage at the Skinny Raven Half in a time of 1:26:58 and 1st place for the women. I ran 12 minutes faster and at a pace of nearly one minute per mile faster.
I would be lying if I said I wasn’t proud of what my running career has progressed to. I’m a pretty driven person without others watching, but I can’t help but think what this blog has done for my running career. In many ways, I do feel accountable to posting here and knowing many others are watching me along this journey. Yet at the same time, I know I would have chased big goals nonetheless.
Anyway, back to the race recap of the Skinny Raven Half this past weekend. Life has been pretty full these last few weeks with getting ready to move, and I might have been a little crazy to commit to a race the day before I flew out of Alaska and moved to Minnesota, but this race has held so many special memories over the years since its inaugural day 7 years ago. Plus, I had been coaching a group of women who were all working towards this race as their goal race, so I wanted to be sure to celebrate with them and run the race with them as well.
Going into the race, I was feeling really good about my fitness. Tempo paces on my training runs were right around 6:20 pace, which is what I was running at 18 months postpartum with Cullen when I was my fittest. And even despite all the chaos of moving, I was still getting good sleep and my diet was pretty on par for how I usually eat. However, then three days before the race, it dawned on me that I hadn’t been consistent in taking my iron over the last couple of weeks with everything going on. Ugh! It’s critical that I take my iron supplement otherwise I feel really out of breath when I’m running hard. At that point, there was nothing I could do, so I did my best to set myself up for a successful race despite this.
I did a few things differently going into this race:
- Carb-load – I tried a one-day carb load as there is some evidence to support that it may help in races from 60 – 90 minutes.
- More energy gels – I also took in more energy gels during this race than usual. I usually take in 0 – 1 energy gel during a half marathon, but this time I did three: one right before the gun went off, one at mile 4, and the last at mile 9.
- Ice bath – I also did an ice bath the night before this race. I’m not sure if there is any science to support that this helps, but I did it the weekend prior after a trail run and my legs felt amazing the next day!
- Nike Alphaflys – I did bite the bullet and buy the Nike Air Zoom Alphafly Next % shoes. In the past, I’ve worn the Saucony Endorphin Pro+ and while I have liked them, I was curious about the hype of the Alphafly since I’ve heard such amazing things about them.
So with those changes, I really hoped I was setting myself up for a fast half. My PR for the half is 1:24:22, which is still from 2016, so it is time to break that!
Race morning came around, and I had slept well the night before (although, I had some problems falling asleep because I was so cold from the ice bath), my legs felt really good upon waking, and mentally I was feeling optimistic. (Albeit also nervous, which is very normal for me though.) Everyone else was still sleeping in the morning, so I took my time getting ready: showering, foam rolling, checking my DMs on Instagram, and eating my breakfast.
It was raining out that morning and the forecast had a 100% chance of rain the rest of the morning, so I dressed accordingly. I got to the race about 45 minutes before it was scheduled to start, and I did my regular pre-race warm-up: easy running, stretches, drills, and striders. I felt good during the warm-up and was ready to go by the start of the race. It was rainy and cool (about 55*F), but I knew it would feel fine once I got running.
As soon as the gun went off (or more like they suddenly said ‘go’), I did my best to reign in the pace and not go too fast, too soon. I settled into a pace that seemed comfortable and let my body do its thing. I knew I needed a 6:27 pace or better to set a new PR, so I had that in my mind as well.
As the miles clicked by, I was feeling okay, but I wasn’t feeling great. I thought my new Alphaflys felt good, the air was cool (albeit rainy), and my breathing wasn’t crazy out-of-control from missing my iron for the last couple of weeks. Even though some of the first miles were a little on the slow side, I knew once I turned around on the out-and-back course, there was a slight downhill, and I would be able to make up a little bit of time. Plus, I would be able to fly because the Alphaflys would give me that boost when I got tired, right?!
Well, unfortunately, that didn’t happen. As the race went on, I didn’t feel any better. I didn’t feel terrible, but my right hip started getting achy (I’ve never had that happen before.), and my right hamstring also started feeling tight (Also, something I’ve never had.). I continued to push as hard as I could and using as much of the downhills. I never felt like my Alphaflys took away any of the usual fatigue that I experience during a half marathon and my extra gels didn’t seem to give me any boost of energy. What did lift my spirits was hearing and seeing so many people cheer for me and give me encouragement as I ran by!
Garmin splits: (which didn’t always match up with the mile markers)
Mile 1 – 6:28
Mile 2 – 6:28
Mile 3 – 6:30
Mile 4 – 6:39
Mile 5 – 6:47
Mile 6 – 6:36
Mile 7 – 6:33
Mile 8 – 6:34
Mile 9 – 6:37
Mile 10 – 6:46
Mile 11 – 6:27
Mile 12 – 6:41
Mile 13 – 6:46
As I crested over that last (incredibly steep) hill, I saw the numbers on the clock creeping closer to 1:27, so I pushed a little harder and finished at 1:26:58. Despite not running as fast as I had hoped to, I am glad to close my running chapter in Anchorage with a win–it does make it a little more fun to go out that way.
Maybe the biggest downside to this race is that the Alphaflys didn’t seem to help me or make a difference in how I felt. I really wanted to like them, but I didn’t run any faster in them. I know they caused me to run differently because the top portion of my calf muscle were very sore for several days afterwards. Plus, I am definitely going to be losing my big toenail because I got a huge blister underneath it from the shoes.
So I close this chapter of racing in Alaska with a lot of positive memories and friendships made over the years. I walked away from the race with a few tears in my eye–for the wonderful running community and knowing racing is going to look a little different in Minnesota. I am not sure what my racing chapter in Minnesota will look like, but I know it will continue.
