PBC Half Race Recap

Yesterday, I ran a great race! 

I posted this selfie to Facebook minutes before the start time with the caption, ready to run this race, "without limits"! That's the name of the team I run with here in Wilmington. And honestly, that's exactly how I ran yesterday...without limits!

With a 7:30 start time, not a ton of runners, a beautiful, flat course and the most perfect weather we could have asked for, race conditions were ideal. The run took a few loops through Brunswick Forest a beautiful neighborhood near Leland and Wilimington. The course took us through a couple different loops including around a beautiful pond, through visually appealing neighborhoods and my favorite part, a paved but wooded trail. I ran a 10k and (an untrained) 15k here earlier this year and loved both races. 

This was the inaugural Plantation Building Corporation Half Marathon, and for a first long race, they did pretty well. Because the course was repeated for the half marathoners using a double loop, there were plenty of water stops and a couple stations near the end offering Gatorade. My only suggestion to make things better next year would be a a little more signage or volunteers to direct people when they are unsure where to go. With all the criss-crossing and loops, things got a bit more tricky as I got more tired. 

After a tough race last weekend, I really wasn't sure how I would do yesterday. I ran so well the last few weeks at practice and was held back slightly last weekend due to the fact that I spent 6 hours in a pool on Friday and Saturday for work. Not being a swimmer, this took a bigger toll on my legs than I had planned for. I still beat my Quintiles Half time by over two minutes so I wasn't too upset, but disappointed in the fact that I knew I was trained and ready to run better than I performed that day.

In the end, I ran by far, my fastest race of the year. I ended up with a negative split which also made me happy as I have been working toward not burning out at the end of races. Last week at the Divas Half Marathon, I was mentally out of it after about mile 10. This weekend, I stayed focus and my final time showed it! I ran 11 minutes faster than last weekend and I couldn't be happier. 

One big difference I noticed was that as I got tired, my body naturally would revert to this leaning forward stance with strides that felt like I was trying to reach for my next step. As I became aware of my body resorting to this, I reminded myself to stay tall and have quicker steps and instead of reaching, in order to focus on turning my legs over quicker. This really seemed to help me out in terms of saving my legs and making me go faster without getting out of breath. 

Getting 5th in my age group was just another highlight of the day! Even though I know that was more due to the fact that it was a small race, I was still excited to have beat my personal goal and just to have felt so good during the race. I swear, I never felt out of breath even once! It feels so good to notice changes in your body, especially after just 10 weeks of training. These moments are what makes all the hard ones worth it!

And last night, I slept like this. :)

I would definitely suggest the PBC Half to anyone looking for a beautiful, flat course, with shady areas along the way. Just make sure to review the course map before hand and bring some fuel! Good job to my Without Limits team members who ran this race as well!! Love my team! :)