Trent/Waldron Glacier Half-Marathon

What a wonderful feeling running a PR is! An ultimate runner’s high!

My previous half-marathon PR was set during very first half-marathon in 2006, and I haven’t been able to break it since! I did NOT think I would be able to break it on Saturday in the midst of running 65 miles this week! 

Even before my sister, Kristy, came up here to visit, we had planned on running the Trent/Waldron Glacier Half Marathon.

I hadn’t even heard of this event until I was looking through the Alaska Runner’s Calendar this spring. 

Before the race started, Kristy and I jogged one mile, did some stretching, and then got in line to use the bathroom one last time. After that, it was time to line up at the start line. In the past, I’ve made the mistake to stand way too far back in the pack, and then I end up wasting too much time and energy dodging all the slower runners, so this time we moved towards the front of the start. 

Right before the gun went off, someone came up to me and said, “hi Michelle” in a very excited voice. I did not recognize the women, but then she said, “I read your blog!” I couldn’t believe it; I felt like a celbrity. That was the first time I had ever been recognized by a reader out in public! (I’m sorry I didn’t get your name, but I’m glad you said hi!) 

With all the races Kristy and I have run, this was only the second race we have run together, so we were excited to be able to actually run a race together. 

(The ISOs were off on the camera which is why the color didn’t come out right on these pictures.) 

Kristy and I started out running around 7 minute miles. (I said we should start at 7:30, but I guess I was a little excited!)

At mile 2 we saw Craig!

Here we come!

I look like I have a tumor on my right thigh!

Kristy and I were managing right around 7:15 minutes/mile for the next couple of miles. I kept checking in with her to see how she was doing, and immediately she told me she had started out too fast. I did my best to encourage her, but I could tell she was struggling to maintain the pace. I was still feeling really good but we had said we were going to stick together, so I didn’t want to leave her. I asked her if she wanted to slow down. (I felt bad for taking it out too fast at the beginning.) But she was nice and said I could go ahead. I wanted to stick with her, but I was feeling really good and wanted to see if I could PR, so I took off on my own at mile 4.5.

For the next several miles, I did my best to maintain a 7:10-7:15 minute mile. It was easy to keep that pace when there was a crowd cheering but once I was in the woods by myself, I had to use a lot of self-motivation not to zone out and let my pace drop.

I finally saw Craig around mile 10.5 (I thought I would see him sooner, but I gave him bad directions and he couldn’t find me. 🙁 ) He gave me a gel, which I was glad to have. 

Shortly after that, I picked it up even more because I was still feeling strong and wanted to make sure I PRed. This even lead to some nice negative splits under 7 minutes the last couple miles. 

I really kicked it in at the end and finished strong.

Woo hoo! A new PR of 1:31:49. (My previous PR was 1:36:10, which I set back in 2006 at my first half-marathon in Sioux Falls, SD.)

Kristy wasn’t far behind me. 🙂

I could tell she had run as hard as she could! 

She also got a PR! Her official time was 1:36:11.  (Her previous half-marathon PR was 1:37:47)

After the race, Craig got photo happy with the camera. 

Kristy and her chocolate chip cookie. 🙂 She went and had ice cream with Craig while I ran 6 more miles after the race in order to get 20 miles in for the day. 

Me and my sister, Kristy –> PR sisters!

Yeah for sparkly B.I.C. Bands!

The classic runner’s pose. 

This is how we felt:

Me: strong and like a champion

Kristy: dead (She ran hard!)

My super cute sister. 

Stats from the race. 

Official time: 1:31:49

Overall place: 30/245

Female place: 5/117

Age group (25-29) place: 2/19

The stats I have on my watch don’t coorespond to the official results. My GPS said I ran 12.85 miles in 1:31:50, but here’s what I have for my splits:

Mile 1: 7:13

Mile 2:7:17

Mile 3: 7:15

Mile 4:7:24

Mile 5: 7:25

Mile 6: 7:11

Mile 7: 6:56

Mile 8: 7:03

Mile 9: 7:28

Mile 10: 6:56

Mile 11: 6:43

Mile 12: 7:06

Mile 13: 6:56