Virginia Beach Rock n Roll Half Marathon!

WHEW!!! All the anticipation for the race... and then it's over!
Race Report:

Saturday:

I took Saturday off of work so I could drive to VA beach, pick up my race number and shirt and enjoy the expo! I. LOVE. EXPOS. There's tons of free food, samples, snacks and trinkets and then booths with everything ever that I wanted to buy. I did pick up some GUs, a really cute charm that's a hare chasing a tortoise (I'm the tortoise says James), a 26.2 sticker for motivation, and some Zip Fizz. I love Zip Fizz, I haven't mentioned it yet because I totally forgot about since I haven't picked any up in a while. It's basically a really healthy energy booster before work outs, it's low in calories and has added vitamins and good stuff. It might be all in my mind but I really feel the difference in my run quality when I use it. There were also tons of booths doing arch checks, running analysis stations and Kinesio taping. I remember seeing during the olympics all the athletes being covered in it and I was still terrified of my arch and knee problems popping up during the race I decided to give the Kinesio taping a try. Basically, the construction of the tape allows blood flow while keeping everything in place unlike braces which can cut circulation and be restrictive. It also lasts up to 5 days through showering and exercising. Almost immediately after them taping my knee I could feel a difference as if everything's secure and in place... but I'll give my final opinion later!
I know its unnecessary to carbo load for a half marathon, but I figured I'd fit in some simple carbs to avoid runner's trots and a mini burn out since I'm pretty slow and would be out there for a bit any ways. I munched on some air popped popcorn, garbanzo beans, whole wheat toast w/ peanut butter and bananas, then for dinner... PIZZA! My long run last weekend was great after a night of a few slices of pizza so I made a healthier one at least this time.
Quick Homemade Pizza
*Thin crust premade                        *Lots of spinach
*Marinara sauce                              *Chopped Garlic
*Lite Mozzarella Cheese                 *Thinly sliced Mushrooms
*Reduced Fat Turkey pepperoni
I followed the directions on the crust package for cooking and threw everything on. The only special thing I did was add the mushrooms the last 4 minutes of cooking to avoid a soggy pizza. It turned out great!!
Before hopping in bed I made sure I had every single thing ready for the morning and made a list of the things I needed to get done still.
Sunday:

AHHHH RACE DAY!! After an anxiety filled night of awful sleep I got up bright and early at 4 am! Got dressed, filled my bottles, vaselined up and cooked me a big bowl of oatmeal. We got in the car and zoomed to VA beach, on the way we passed a few cars with running stickers... and then there was one with a 26.2x10 sticker, definitely made me feel like a weenie with my 13.1. We parked at a nearby convention center and took a bus over to join the 10,000+ crowd of people. I said farewell to James as I made my way to corral 13... it took 20 mins to get from 1-13!! I guess it's better than all us slow people getting trampled. I was feeling great all through the beginning and even though I was paying attention to each mile marker it seemed to make it go by faster. I was definitely starting to feel the side effects of wearing a long sleeve shirt, normally I wear one during training to keep the sun off (and bad tans) but it was not doing it today. The course was set up great though, lots of refreshments and sponges along the entire way. The bands every mile and cheer squads really helped keep my spirits up, I really appreciate the time people volunteer for events like this!
Once I hit Mile 9 I really started to feel it. I was just happy to get to each mile marker by then, they all seemed to get farther and farther apart. Around Mile 10.5 there was a bridge we had to cross over again and I probably would've walked that stupid thing faster than I ran it... then! I saw a sign that was marked 15K and in my delusional running state, some how I did terrible math and thought it meant mile 13 and I only had .1 left to go!! So I used my last boost of energy only to see a fuzzy big banner way at the end of the board walk :( It felt like a whole hour just to get to it. BUT I FINALLY DID!!!! In 2:36, 7 minutes slower than my CA time but thats ok. I didn't train specifically for this race and it was crazy hot and humid (I swear those are my only excuses!). Then I got my awesome medal, and a quadrillion snack things I could barely hold onto... I just needed to find James before I puked everywhere and died. OH, and the Kinesio tape worked! I didn't have any knee pain, at all, the entire run.
It was so much fun, a great experience, and I'm so happy to have 2 half marathons under my belt now! Every time I finish one though I always think 'Man, I can't believe in November I'm going to be running that long... twice.' Ah I hope I'll be trained enough by then!
After we got back I took an ammmaaazing shower and plopped in front of the TV with some ice bags and a PB&J.

Such a great hubabub waking up at 4 am and waiting around for hours :p

Monday:
I could barely get out of bed!!! I contemplated going to gym... I really wanted to, but decided against it today and literally stretched, foam rolled and iced. It was torture. I always ate... way too much, but I was just ravaging all day, I guess tomorrow I'm kicking my butt to get back way on track. I did make some Super Healthy Whole Wheat Waffles!! It was sort of an accident too, I was reading a simple recipe that I was going to alter a little bit but ended up using water instead of milk. Whoops! They still turned out really really good though!
*1 1/2 C Whole wheat flour (you can use equal parts white if you're not used to whole wheat flour)
*2 Tsp baking powder
*2 Stevia packets
*1/4 C egg substitute (1 egg)
*1 C water
*1/2 C milk (or subtract the water and use 1 1/2 C milk)
*1/3 C unsweetened applesauce
*Cinnamon and Vanilla extract
I was able to make 5 decent sized belgian waffles in my waffle maker. I cooked them longer than my cookers timer just to make them extra crispy. I topped them with a super thin layer of peanut butter but you could also use sugar free syrup!
Nutritional Info:
Cal: 143 Fat: .7 g Carbs: 29.5 Fiber 4.5 g Sugar 2.9 g Protein 6.7 g
Sounds like a pretty healthy waffle to me!!!

So that was my race weekend!!! Lots of food, pain, sweat, and accomplishment! Tomorrow I have my first physical therapy session, I hope it won't be too bad!