Half Marathon #5: Blue Ridge Half Marathon

I know I totally am behind on my race recaps (as well as yet ANOTHER 5K PR 3 weeks ago...), but I wanted to immediately write down my thoughts on the half marathon that I did this past Saturday, April 20, 2013: The Foot Levelers Blue Ridge Marathon and Half in Roanoke, Virginia!

I signed up to be an official blogger for this race, which sounded like a dream race to me: to run in the Blue Ridge mountains!? Who could pass up that opportunity!! Where I live (in Savannah, GA) and where I am originally from (DC), there are no mountains, let alone hills at all in Savannah. I've always dreamed of building a house in the mountains. You can have your beaches, give me mountains!

Anyway, I signed up for the half and my husband also signed up as well. The drive up to Roanoke from Savannah was not bad at all; very scenic and took about 7 hours. We stayed at a hotel near the airport and mall (Hyatt Place), which was very convenient because there was a race weekend discount AS WELL as a free shuttle to and from the race. SCORE! Not to mention free hot breakfast and free WiFi! :) Plus Downtown Roanoke was just a quick 10 minute drive away!

The night before, we went and picked up our race shirts and bibs at the Market Building and then went and met up with my fellow Moms Run This Town members for a carb loading dinner! I had a couple beers which I probably shouldn't have, but this weekend I allowed to be a cheat weekend so I had to go a bit overboard! :)

When we got back to the hotel, we got our race clothes ready for the morning - checked the weather: mid 40s at start time (7:35am)! Burrr!! So glad I remembered to bring my running sleeves! I took a "flat mama" pic to share on various social media sites and then hit the sack.

We woke up to some WIND howling outside our window... and I was having St. Augustine Half flashbacks! LOL It wasn't too bad, though. When we got to downtown, the Market building was open. We met up with my friends and took our "before" photos - Shelli, Kelli, Katie, Natalie and me! This race was a special one for Kaite and Natalie, as it was to be their FIRST ever marathon!!!

Savannah Moms Run This Town!!

Husband and I

 After hugs and bathroom breaks, we all went out to the start line. I started my Garmin inside, but the damn satellites never synched up until after the race started! :( It was a cold, windy start and after the gun went off it took a while still to warm up. But as soon as we passed mile 1, the ascent onto Mill Mountain started!! Woohoo! I won't forget that sight of people running straight up a super steep road! At about 1.5 miles in, my Garmin FINALLY synched!

I tried my best not to walk until I absolutely needed to. Many people were walking already. I felt like I was going super slow, and I was, but I wanted to at least keep the motion of running with my legs. It was a killer uphill for the next 2 miles! I was trying to keep up with a guy that was ahead of me, but then when we got to about mile 3.75, I succumbed to the mountain and had to take my first walk break (of many to come, lol). The entire way up the mountain was absolutely GORGEOUS. The road was lined with green trees and pretty purple trees popped up to add in some spring color. That, along with the sun peeking through the leaves was just a breathtaking experience. I LOVED IT. It's what I had hoped the course would be.

After my first walk break, I continued on and what do you know, here comes mile 4 and the STAR at the top of Mill Mountain!! With such an AWESOME view of the city!! I had to stop here and take photos at the overlook. Did I just run up this mountain?!?  Hell yeah I did!!! It was such a great feeling!

"I can see my house!"

The Mill Mountain Star!

Me at the top of the mountain! It was windy!!!

After instagramming and FBing this photo, I grabbed some gummi bears at the aid station and made my merry way. I was so HAPPY to now be going DOWNHILL!! But let me tell you, this descent was no joke either! I was so afraid that with one slight slip of my foot, my injury-prone self could be rolling down the mountain!! I took it easy, yet kept a good pace. I passed a few people, but didn't let the momentum get to me too much. Plus, I knew my knees were not loving this part of the course. At least my heart rare got to go down for a bit.

We entered the city and made our way through some beautiful neighborhoods. There was an awesome Fleet Feet aid/cheer station that I remember filling up my water bottle at and high-fiving people. But honestly after that, I can't really remember where the course took us for the rest of the way. There were so many turns and hills that it kept me wondering what was coming next!! I loved it!!! So much better than the normal straightaways in the halfs I have done in the past. I like not knowing whats coming next, what could be around the next corner, etc.

There was so much change in the scenery that before I knew it, I was at mile 12!!!! Woohoo! The hills started to flatten out and I just put my legs in autopilot and flew to the finish line!!! I think my last mile was around a 9 minute pace, which I didn't think I could even hit because I figured my legs would have been super tired from the mountain and hills. But nope! I had so much energy left in me that when I crossed the finish line, I felt like I could keep on running!

And speaking of the finish line, I loved how they pronounced my name correctly AND they even did a shout-out to my Moms Run This Town!!! It was on my shirt! When I heard my name and my running group and had the finish line in sight, I know I have must have had the biggest smile on my face! I finished strong and felt like a badass to boot!! ;) I crossed the line with my right hand over my heart as a tribute to the Boston Marathon. I received my medal from a pretty girl with a tiara

My 5th Half Marathon Medal!!!

My official time was 2:21:28! My slowest half marathon to date, but I was not expecting to PR on this. I was glad that I finished under 2:30! I knew the mountain was going to be rough. It was certainly challenging, but I enjoy a good challenge. I am tempted to try to do it again next year or at least again in the future to see if I can improve on it. My score for the Blue Ridge Half Marathon: A!!

There are also a few important/cool details that I didn't mention:

• Race bibs had names printed on them!
• The course was marked VERY clearly - I knew where to turn even when there was no one directly in front of me!
• Instant race times displayed on a large screen at the finish line!
• The weather was BEAUTIFUL!
• Pete (the race director) and the social media team was very helpful in answering all the questions I had regarding the course before race day
• Lots of crowd support in the neighborhoods!
• Awesome water and aid stations! (Loved the gummi bears!)
• They gave out cool Boston bracelets and stickers to wear on race day to keep the Boston Marathon in our hearts as we ran the race

The only bad things I can think of (which are not even that bad) were the size of the expo/packet pick-up - it was small, not many vendors there. No swag bag, other than the cool Boston bracelets and shirts. And no free beer at the end ;)

{ EDIT: Thanks to Heather who commented that there WERE, in fact, some pretty cool swag bags with noisemakers and stuff! Darn, we got in too late and missed them! }

Thank you Pete and the city of Roanoke for the awesome race!! Hope to see you again soon!