Recap of the inagural Novi Half Marathon

My friend Jenny and I left our house from Milan at 6:30 and arrived at the Novi Middle School at 7:15.  We still didn't have our packets so we were hoping to pick them up that morning. They warned us that parking would be limited at the South Lyon High school, where the start line and packet pickup was. They had shuttles to take us to the starting area from the Middle School.

Only problem with that, was we wouldn't have anywhere to put our race shirts. We were not at all familiar with that area so we did what we thought was the best solution. We got to the high school via the shuttle, and there were still several parking spots available (insert annoying WTFs here)

Well I found a solution to put part of my shirt inside my capris. Race morning was a temp of about 45 degrees, and I wore a t-shirt and capris. My arms were freezing, but was hoping the sun would come out soon. It didn't until about an hour into the race. I also intending on warming up during the run. Which I did. Eventually.

About half of the race was done on dirt roads that were not properly cared for. I was not a fan of this as it resulted in several potholes. (Didn't even think to take pictures but should have. Oh well!) I normally don't mind dirt roads not these. I never thought this portion would end!

We finished on the South Lyon High School track. It was so windy by the time we finished that I could not wait to get home. I wanted a massage, but it was not worth standing in the cold. Plus my friend's husband came with their two kids to watch Jenny finish. My husband was at home with my sick son, who was running a fever all weekend :(

My finish time was 1:58:59 for a total of 13.3 miles. My watch wasn't the only one that was off! It still ended up being a PR since my last PR was 1:59:03. I was pushing the pace for 13 miles and it hurt! I did not get my goal finish time of 1:55 but I could barely hold this pace for this long. I couldn't imagine running any faster. I did the speedwork, although probably not as much speedwork as I should have. Oh well.

I have another half marathon in two weeks and won't be aiming to PR that one..

Out of all the potholes in that race, I did not hurt my ankle or foot on a single one.  However, later out with the family I did manage to hurt my foot with it slipping on uneven pavement while walking into Target. It hurt like hell and it has resulted in a big, swollen bruise on the outside of my left foot. Not happy with myself.. I managed an easy 5 miler this morning and hoping it heals quickly. I told myself if it hurt while running, I would stop. Running felt ok, besides being sore. My foot itself didn't hurt though.

It is just hard to follow the RICE treatment with having to come into work and having a toddler. Please God make it go away. In my heart I know I should rest it. But me being the stubborn runner I am, thought taking one day off would be good enough but of course not. Not sure what to do. I really just want to run. grrr.