I think by now, I’ve figured out, that though I work okay without the pressure of a race coming up, I do a little better when I have a race breathing down my neck.

I hadn’t planned to run the Run Raleigh Half Marathon, but a friend of mine decided she couldn’t run it, and generously allowed for me to take her place.  And it’s a good thing, I still have the Nike Women’s Half in two weeks, and it kept me on track with a long run this weekend.  And gosh, I needed that long run.

I have stress dreams. So I dreamt all night that I’d overslept the race. But, my mom’s been sick, and I dreamt that she, on the way to the race, took my hand, and jogged with me to the start line. (One day Mommy, you’re totally gonna do it!)

I ate the breakfast of champs, Nutella on toast with a Gatorade Primer, Rock Taped my hips, and watched Sean T’s hip-hop abs infomercial for a while. (I love for a good infomercial).

I put on my compression pro-tight (rocked my world), and my Brooks mesh tank (doubly rocked my world), and set off for the start line, which was about a mile from my house.

I mean, on the real, how cute is the back of that top?

Okay, onto the race review.  

Run Raleigh Half Marathon 2013:

I give the race an A- overall.  Lemme break it down.

• Packet pickup was seamless.  Packet pickup was at Capital Run/Walk, a local running store.  I’m more of a Fleet Feet Raleigh girl 😉 but I’d be lying if I said the store wasn’t beautiful, and the volunteers weren’t friendly as could be.   
• The race was extremely well organized.  I walked to the site, and was easily able to find the start, find the pacers, find out where I was supposed to be, and all that good stuff.  For folks that are down with  Port-a-Potty, there were like a million lined up to start.  Heads up: if you’re driving to the race?   You share those parking lots with a Starbucks, a Rite-Aid, and a Harris Teeter.  What I’m saying is, these businesses don’t love it when you park in their lots, but you’re not shopping.  If you’re driving, park respectfully, or have someone drop you off at the start line.
• The race started on time.  You don’t know how important that is.
• The volunteers.  They were the rock stars of the entire operation.  The volunteers were well-trained, friendly, smiling, and handled the water stops with ease.  They were wonderful.  If any of the volunteers are reading this?  Seriously, thank you.  You guys rocked.
• The course.  Okay, here’s where the minus part comes in.  The course was pretty.  We had home-court advantage, so the hills weren’t a surprise.  We used Greenway (which was so cool!), and the miles just flew by.  Here’s the minus.  There is the rudest hill at 12.1 miles that will have you praying for salvation.  I ran with the 2 hour  pacer, and nearly lost him at that hill.  And my glutes are talking today, they didn’t like that hill, either.

Overall? If you’re looking for a pretty spring race to do? Do this one? Beware of that hill at 12 miles, but other than that, you’re in for a really really enjoyable 13.1 mile ride!  On a more personal note, I’m proud of how consistently I was able to maintain a 2-hour pace, despite a pretty hilly course.  I certainly need to work a little harder, I’d like to hit below 2:00 now, but I’m proud of my work yesterday.