A Run Through Redlands... A Run Through Hills

Sunday, April 27 marked the date of my 5th half marathon. A Run Through Redlands, in my hometown was a great setting for a race. We are able to walk to start line, I know the area (which is beautiful) and I don't have to drive a long way home to shower.

Now, I've ran this race in the 10K distance twice and that distance is tough. The course is fairly hilly. When I decided I was doing the half, I thought "great, I'll just train on the course and all will be well!" HA. ha.


Below is a map of the course elevation. The graph makes me a little annoyed because it definitely doesn't do it justice. This course is NO. JOKE. when it comes to the hills. The course quickly starts the uphill that last what seemed to be like the entire race! Literally the first 7.5 miles are uphill. Then when the graph looks like it starts downhill, it does, but then quickly flattens out and then again you are summoned up another hill. This kept on for the rest of the race. It. Was. Brutal. By mile 11 I had enough of the silly hills. If it weren't for a few women who ran past me encouraging me, I probably would have stopped!

Actually I really enjoyed this race, to be honest. Not only did I get a PR on the hardest course I've ever ran, I ran with some awesome people. Around mile 4, I met up with a man who classified himself as an "older" runner that was using Galloway's run/walk method. He ran for .9 miles and walked .1 miles. He ran the course in 2:02. We talked for roughly 3 miles on and off and he really encouraged me to keep going. Around mile 6 I met up with a girl who was running a similar pace and style I was. She looked exhausted heading up a hill, and I encouraged her; she repaid the favor to me when we hit another hill. This was great because had she not been there, I may have walked. Thanks girl. :) Then the last 4 miles, the entire town of Redlands got into the race. People were everywhere yelling for you to keep going.. "you're almost there", "you look great", "3 more turns". Anyone who has ever ran knows how important this is. Especially for someone like me who doesn't run with music. I rely on these people so thank you! One of the coolest things was that my family was waiting for me towards the finish line. They ran the 10k and 5k so they finished quite a bit earlier and there they were yelling and cheering me on. That was pretty emotional to be honest. Having your husband recognize the hard work you've put in for 12+ weeks coupled with running the hardest race of your life; you're exhausted and don't think you can keep going and then they're there. It's pretty great. Then as I cornered the last turn, I could see the finish line and the timer. The announcer called my name and actually said "Maggie Woodul... cheer her on folks, she just ran 13.1 miles" and the spectators did just that. What an amazing feeling it is. I'm not an elite runner by any means, and I'm not a graceful or majestic runner, but those people took the time out of their day to cheer me on. I finished with a time of 2:09:04. I was aiming for 2:05 but with the course and the hills, I'll take that time ANY DAY. It's still a PR and with all the beauty of the course and the gracious people along the course, 2:09 is a time I'd run any day with a smile on my face.

I used Hal Higdon's Half Marathon Plan for intermediate runners. I followed it basically to a tee. I really think it helped me. I did do yoga 1-2 days a week and spin class 1-2 days a week as well and I felt myself getting stronger in my training runs. I really liked this plan as well. I just added it to my cell phone calendar and it'd remind me what I needed to do that day. Simple.

After the race, I felt amazing! I felt like I could go run 2 days later, which in past half marathons I felt like I had to take an entire week off. So I attribute that to my training.

I can't wait until next year, I'm going to strive to get into 2:05 or faster!

What is your favorite half-marathon and why? What was your hardest race?