The Hightail Half & Quarter Marathon (formerly known as Her Tern Half & Quarter Marathon) is a women’s-only, high-end race complete with a bracelet for finishing, mimosas at the end, branded Brooks apparel that sells out quickly, and a unique race experience since only women are a part of it! I’ve claimed it as my favorite race since it started in 2013, and it is still my favorite race of the summer!
My friend and co-worker, Hallidie, and I at the start. She was 1st, I was 2nd.
With my hamstring strain injury, I was on the fence all week about whether to run. And then if I was going to run, which race I should run–the half or the quarter marathon. I knew the half marathon would be a bit of a stretch–seeing my longest run in the last 2 months has been 8 miles. However, the half is the premier race, and I would be able to see a lot more of the women I helped coach out on the course since it is an out-and-back route. Thankfully, a couple of my friends talked me off the ledge of the half marathon, and I knew if I was going to do any of the races, it would have to be the quarter marathon. However, I still wasn’t even sure I should do the quarter marathon since every time I have raced, it has resulted in my hamstring injury flaring up and getting worse. I pretty much woke up Sunday morning, still on the fence, started getting ready, and decided I could at least warm-up and see how I felt. Well, let’s be honest, once I pinned that bib to my sports bra and put my racing flats on, there was no looking back.
Shake-out run the day before and the nail design I had for last year’s race because I loved it so much.
I didn’t spend too much time warming up since I don’t have a lot of base mileage built up, so I only jogged about 0.5 mile, did a few stretches, and drill work. I didn’t do as many strides as I usually do since I know that is what really aggravates my hamstring. I was going to use the first mile of the race to warm-up a bit, but as we all know, my first mile was the fastest, and I didn’t start out very conservatively.
My fast friends: Erin in the white tank, me in the white shorts, and Hallidie leading.
The race was pretty uneventful, which is not a bad thing. I started out a little too quick, and then my pace slowed down quite a bit after mile two. I didn’t feel like I was slowing down that much probably because the effort was still there. After the turn-around, the trail has a slight down grade, which I could feel and was thankful for feeling a little extra boost in my step. With two miles to go I was starting to feel done (already–haha!), but this race also felt short since I’m used to half marathons and full marathons. The last 0.5 mile of the course is a slight incline that turns into a really steep, short hill that is a killer. I was pretty much going at a snail’s pace up it.
Splits:
Mile 1 – 6:24
Mile 2 – 6:44
Mile 3 – 7:02
Mile 4 – 7:06
Mile 5 – 6:59
Mile 6 – 7:03
Mile 6.55 – 7:30 pace
The course goes out and back on the Chester Creek Trail, so I got to see a lot of people I knew from the training group I helped coached. It was a nice distraction, and I had a lot of people cheer for me, which was also really nice. (And thank you if you did cheer for me!)
Coming into the finish chute.
Official results:
Time – 44:50
Average pace – 6:51
Overall place: 2nd
Age group place: 1st
The sad part is that I ran slower than I did at this half marathon that my sister and I did last year. Last year we ran the half marathon at an average pace of 6:39, and my quarter marathon average pace was 6:51. (Yikes!) That’s what I get for not being able to train consistently for the past 9 months.
sports bra | white shorts | socks | racing flats
As always, I’m glad I ran the race, and I’m happy with how it went. And the best part is that my hamstring did not hurt the next day! I was 100% convinced I would reinjure it racing on it, but it felt okay! I know I need to be careful, but hopefully this means I can get back to training at a much high volume and intensity!
