the road goes on forever...

Blatimore Running Festival-Half Marathon

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Location:

Tallahassee,FL,United States

Member Since:

Jun 24, 2008

Gender:

Female

Goal Type:

Local Elite

Running Accomplishments:

PRs:

Mile- 5:27 Breakfast on the Track, August '09

5k- 18:59 (6:07)  Tails and Trails, May '09 (And two more times! GRR!)

8k- 33:08 (6:39) Sweetheart 8k, Feb '11 

10k- 41:38 (6:42) TRBC, March '09

15k- 1:02:46 (6:44) Lake Caroline 15k, Nov '08

Half Marathon- 1:36:58 (7:24) Hoover Dam Half, Oct '09

Marathon- 3:37:16 (8:17) Mississippi Coast Marathon, Nov '08

Short-Term Running Goals:

Help my knees help me.

Long-Term Running Goals:

Personal:

Moving to Knoxville this summer. Hooray for being in a place with a running community!

Favorite Blogs:

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Miles:	This week:	0.00	Month:	0.00	Year:	0.00
New Balance 903 (Orange) Lifetime Miles:						63.00
Red Flats Lifetime Miles:						44.88
Brooks Salmon Lifetime Miles:						304.65
Brooks Black Lifetime Miles:						131.30
Brooks Baby Blue Lifetime Miles:						116.25
Newtons Lifetime Miles:						0.00

Sat, Oct 11, 2008

Race: Blatimore Running Festival-Half Marathon (13.1 Miles) 01:37:56, Place in age division: 9

Slow miles	Fast miles	Total Distance
0.00	13.10	13.10

Let me just say, I am sooo happy with my time! Who doesn't love a PR! The race was great, and running through my favorite city with my dad and best friend was awesome. You can tell I am still on a runner's high :)

Don't have all my splits, but...

Mile 1- I think 7000 people ran in the half, and 6500 started in front of us. They tried to do a wave start but no one listened. The first four miles we actually ran on the city sidewalk instead of the course in the street, just because there were sooo many people that were going really slow. We managed to clock a 7:50 but wasted a ton of energy.

Miles 2-3 still very crowded

Miles 4-5 we started getting into a groove. Got our pace down to 7:40 or just under, and although most people hated the hills I thought they were great!!

Miles 6-8 I started to get a little frustrated. I wanted to run with my dad and Erin but I had a ton of energy I wanted to expend. Erin dropped back at 8 (but still ran an awesome 1:44- a PR and she has a marathon in two weeks). We continued around 7:40-7:45, including stopping to give my cousin a hug while she waited on the sidelines to run for her relay team. Gu-ed up at mile 7.

Mile 9 I asked my dad if we can still get under 1:40 and he said probably not because we were running 7:45s, and I should go on without him.

Mile 10 I ran 6:45!!! I felt amazing, I even danced with some old man cheering for people on the sidelines, haha.

Mile 11- 6:46

Mile 12- 7:05 (this one had some hills)

Mile 13.1- I am not sure what my pace for the last mile was, but I finished in 1:37:56, a new PR by 3.5 minutes!!

I don't know if I would have gotten a better time if I ran the whole race hard. If I left them earlier I wouldn't have had as much left at the end. One day I will obviously have a chance to run a hard one by myself and see, so I do not at all regret holding back in the beginning. I think we all would have done better without the crowds or the heat (it was pretty bad).

I now have two long runs before my marathon, so these next few weeks are high mileage weeks. At least this race pumps me up for them. Then I get to go to Biloxi and hope for a 3:40 for Boston!!

Congrats to my brother who finished his first marathon! I miss so much living far from home, so I am so glad I got to be there for it since he was there for mine.

Comments

From marion on Sat, Oct 11, 2008 at 16:21:31

Kelsey-

From marion on Sat, Oct 11, 2008 at 16:25:54

wAHT THE HECK?

Kelsey- THAT WAS AMAZING!!! You did SO gREAT!!! ROCK IT BABY!!! I'm glad you took off. You gotta do what you gotta do! It's race day, no saving it for later. You may be right about being conservative in the beginning. WOW! I'd ask some more elite runners about their thoughts. So many runners start out too hard and then crash and burn. YOU SMOKED it!! THat time was FAB!!! You sould look at Kelli and Kellies. They ran Hobble Creek 1/2 in august and then BQ'd at st. GEorge. Your 1/2 time is close to theirs if I remember.

CONGRATULATIONS!!! That is the BEST!!! :D GReat way to start your weekend!!!

YEAH!!! WHOOOO HOOO!!!!! Whoop Whoop!!!

From marion on Sat, Oct 11, 2008 at 16:28:23

I just checked out their Hobble Creeks- they both got 1:40's You are on your way!!!

one more YEAH for the road!!! :D

From Kelsey on Sat, Oct 11, 2008 at 17:06:30

Awesome, thanks- that really is the kind of motivation I need... to see people my speed that did it!! I may have to check their training for some tips for the next few weeks!

From Sasha Pachev on Sat, Oct 11, 2008 at 23:28:36

Congratulations on a PR. Based on your account of the race I would say you should have been able to run under 1:35 going all out from the start, possibly even under 1:33.

Looking at your PRs - I think with proper training you can run around 1:22 in the half and around 2:53 in the full marathon. Maybe faster, but at least that fast.

I would suggest you start with 6 miles a day 6 days a week, maybe a little longer than 6 before the day of rest if you are handling this mileage well. Then keep increasing as you adjust. If time does not allow to train 6 days a week for the full length of the run, even if you can squeeze in 10 minutes of running in between classes, or doing errands on foot, that would be a major plus. Keep the pace easy, that is very important for staying away from injuries.

If running several days in a row even at a slow pace still gives you trouble, try some form of aerobic cross training instead. But do your best to get your HR for an hour to the equivalent of what you would running 6 days a week.

From Kelsey on Sun, Oct 12, 2008 at 08:31:30

Wow, Sasha... if that doesn't give me some motivation to add in some light miles on my off days, or do at least some cross training then I don't know what would. The next few weeks are the really important ones for my marathon. I'll be doing my 18 and 20 milers, and need to put in some high mileage. I will definitely add some workouts in as you suggested (at a slow rate of course, to let my body adjust). I wish I would have started earlier (like with your 6 miles/6 days at the start of my training), but I still have time before the marathon to get some good quality training in. Thanks a lot for the advice and confidence!

From Kelli on Sun, Oct 12, 2008 at 10:06:57

Ah, well then you are way out of my range, but probably in the KellieS range!

GREAT job on the PR!!! That is an awesome race!

From marion\ on Sun, Oct 12, 2008 at 10:51:00

Just remember what Sasha said about not getting injured. With your marathon so close, you don't want to get busted up ;) You can always get that AMAZING 2:53 next year! :) Boston is looking like a shoe in :D Oh wait, I don't want to jinx you.

(see I said you'd ROCK at your marathon!)

YEAH!!!!

From kelsey on Mon, Oct 13, 2008 at 21:11:04

Kelli- don't sell yourself short! i would love to run my next marathon as well as you ran St. George!

From Kelli on Mon, Oct 13, 2008 at 22:12:00

Oh, it was a great race alright. But I will be patiently awaiting your marathon report! You are going to do awesome!!! You will see...

From megan on Wed, Oct 15, 2008 at 17:58:13

Aweome half marathon Kelsey! congrats on the PR!

Which upcoming Marathon are you running in? I bet your'll rock at the full!

From MichelleL on Wed, Oct 15, 2008 at 18:34:34

Wow, you are doing some great training. This reminds me of my first marathon, where I ran with friends until I got frustrated with their walking through the water stations and after the 2nd or 3rd a group of 10 girls passed me as I walked with them, and I had to tell them, "Sorry, I have to take off." and I ended up getting a 1:40.

What Sasha says about training is right, but you have to work up gradually. Make sure to not add more than 10% mileage a week, and only do that if your body gives you a green light. Listening to your body is so key.

You seem to be on a steep improvement curve. How you train now will help your current marathon, but it will also extend to your next one. Good luck in your training.

(Is that a long enough comment, geez!)

From Kelsey on Thu, Oct 16, 2008 at 18:04:56

Kelli- I sure hope so! I would love to get to meet everyone in Boston!!

Megan- Thanks! I am running a very very very small marathon November 29th called the Mississippi Coast Marathon. It is super flat, so I have no excuse to not do well!

Michelle- Thanks for the support and advice. I have to remember why I cut back on my runs in the first place (I injured a knee years ago, and it swells when I run, so I have to rest it a day or it just accumulates until I can't walk!). So I am just adding one more very slow run a week, to make 4 running days, then next week I will add one cross training day. I think that should be enough for now. Then I may try to do a little more when training for my next one, and see how my body handles it. But you are so right, I definitely don't want to risk too much right now, I've worked too hard. (Long comment back at ya!)

From jtshad on Thu, Oct 16, 2008 at 18:15:12

Congrats on the PR! Go get that BQ time!

From Kelsey on Fri, Oct 17, 2008 at 10:17:48

Thanks!! And I will do my best, I'm pretty excited to try!

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