It’s been 3 years since my last post on here – I randomly thought about writing a race recap on here. I’ve missed doing these so I’m going to try to get back in the habit of it. I like going back to my old recaps and remembering all the little details that have slipped my mind.
Well I lot has changed since I last posted. New jobs, surgeries, a new home and a lot of stuff in-between. I qualified for Boston 2020 (which we all know how that ended). Reapplied for 2021, didn’t get in and then found out 8 weeks out from race day I could run in person. I re-qualified & ran again in 2022. Now I’m just 18 days out from my 3rd Boston.
So now for the actual race recap on the Love Run half marathon. This was my 13th half marathon (lucky number 13). I really wanted to get a half in but was a little nervous since this one is so close to Boston – but it’s close to home so I love doing it. My coach thought it would be fine to fit it into the training schedule, so I went forward with it. Love run was my first half in 2016 (I ran 1:55:58). In 2017, I ran 1:35:52 & last year I ran 1:31:02. The course changed from when I first ran it in 2016 – I like the current course (aside from the monster hill right after mile 10). Leading up to race day my coach asked me what my goal was – I said “eh maybe 1:34” I didn’t think I could EVER beat my time from last year. My coach immediately was like “you’re fitter than last year – aim for sub-1:30”, “be aggressive” & “there’s nothing to lose” – running sub-1:30 was something that seemed like a huge reach for me. That was another level of running that I would simply never be capable of. I was shocked when my coach told me he thought I could run that fast. That goal made me nervous – but I was like okay let’s go for it.
Fast forward to race morning – the weather was going to be perfect and I was feeling good. I got up, had my iced coffee and belvita and got ready to go. I was about 2 minutes outside the bridge to Philly when I realized I forgot my race shoes. How does one forget their race shoes you ask? Well somehow I did. I had all my race stuff in a bag and my shoes right next to it – I grabbed my bag but not my shoes. Luckily my dad and I left super early (thank you pre-race anxiety) and my Mom met us so we didn’t have to go all the way home. But this was extra anxiety I didn’t need going into the race. All I could think was “If this is a premonition of how this race is going to go I’m in trouble”
Once we got to the usual parking lot in Philly I felt like I could finally relax. I had an hour to spare & needed to hit the port-o-pottys (obvi). AND I had plans to meet up with one of my insta friends (@milestoboston – she’s awesome). This definitely helped distract me and relieve some pre-race jitters I had.
A few minutes later I headed into my corral – I saw the 1:30 pacer (Hi Joe if you’re reading this). And thought “I just need to stay ahead of them”. I put on my big bootie mix (if you know, you know) and was ready to go. Mile 1 I went out at 6:40 – I felt great – but that little voice in the back of my head was like, “dani there is no way you can keep this up for another 12 miles”. Then I hit mile 2, 6:05. Now I was getting a head of myself. I forced myself to pull back because I was letting the energy of the race itself get to me a little too much. Mile 3 was 6:21 – I thought to myself “okay an easy 10 to go”. After mile 3, I stopped getting caught up in my splits and started focusing on the mile I was in. I tried not to think about all I had left in front of me and think about how I felt in the moment and in the mile. This was HUGE for me. The miles started ticking by after this. I entered that zone where you don’t remember too much for a bit – sorta on autopilot. The next miles were not too eventful. I was about 63 minutes into the race at mile 10. I had beaten my PB in the 10 miler at this point. There was a massive hill that slowed me down about 10-13 seconds compared to the miles before. I pushed it up that hill as hard as my body would allow. Once I got to the top I did my normal hill trick – I tell myself “10 steps and the hurt will be over” – a little mental game I play with myself to forget the pain of the hill. Plus what goes up must come down, right? Not long after was the downhill – I opened my stride and let gravity help me out here.
Once I got past the rest of the hills, I was able to focus on the final 2 miles. Mile 12 was 6:09 – with only 1.1 miles to go, I knew I had to empty the tank. I ran as fast as my body would let me. My last mile was 5:55 (heck, 5:55 is my mile personal best from the one time I raced it in high school). I couldn’t believe I just closed in my race with a 5:55.
The final 0.1 I just ran as hard as I could. I knew I had hit sub 1:30 – I honestly SHOCKED myself when I saw my time. 1:24:15 (6:26/mi) – I had not just gone under 1:30 – I was under 1:25! I was shocked (and I still am shocked). I was so pumped – it was a nice confidence booster that I needed these final weeks before Boston.
So now I will share my next crazy, scary, insane goal – I want to run a sub-3 hour marathon. My coach told me it’s in view with that half marathon time. I had this goal in the back of my head for a while but never thought it would be possible for me. We all have our limits and I never thought that would be on the radar for me. Here’s to the next big & scary goal – let’s get to work
Runner Girl Dani 