Conquer The Capital Challenge Part 1~19.3 miles

Back in November or December of last year I had the crazy idea that maybe I would like to run a full marathon.  I had run 3 half marathons that year and my yearly mileage was over 1500, so I guess in the back of my head, I figured, Hey, I might as well try it!  Plus I have this crazy dream of wanting to run the Boston Marathon at some point in my life.  Therefore, I really should try my legs at a full marathon.  So, with that being said, I decided to sign up for the Madison Marathon.  What is really cool about the Madison Marathon is that they have what is called the Conquer the Capital Challenge.  They have 2 levels.  Running the Twilight 10K Saturday night (I ran this last year)and running the Half Marathon Sunday morning for the 19.3 challenge; OR running those 2 races plus the full Madison Marathon in November for the 45.5 challenge.  I loved running the Twilight 10K last year, so I knew I was going to run that one anyway, so I decided to take the plunge and sign up for the full 45.5 challenge!!!  Yes, I totally had remorse after I paid the fairly large fee in February after we got our tax return, and I still to this day have doubts in my mind but, overall, I am really looking forward to the challenge.  

So, for these 2 races, we made the decision to rent a hotel room in Madison so we wouldn't have to drive home to Milton in between.  It's not a long drive, but this just made it easier.  We didn't have to rush home Saturday night and wake up super early Sunday morning.  It worked out really well actually.

I love this night race!  Start time is 8:00 and it slowly starts to get darker and darker the longer you are out running.  The start and finish are right at our state capital building which is beautiful in the daylight, but is absolutely gorgeous all lit up at night.  That is my favorite part of this race!  I love running up State Street to see our beautiful capital building all lit up!  

Anyway, I felt really good about this race.  I knew that I had PR'd my 10K the week before, my training had been on point, my nutrition was OK, and I was just going to run and enjoy the race!  The really great thing about these races where there are a lot of participants is that I can't start out too fast like I normally do!  There's a lot of traffic at the start to say the least!  But, I after we thinned out a little, I found a group that seemed to be running at my pace and stuck close to them for the majority of the race.  I also made sure to walk though the water stations, especially since I left my water bottle with the kids so they could stay hydrated!  

I was very surprised by my paces actually.  I was keeping it at 10:00 or under for the majority of the race!  I never usually run this fast!  Needless to say, when I crossed the finish line to see my time of 1:00:02, I was super shocked!  I never run this fast in a race!!  So excited to get another PR for a 10K a week after the first one for this year!  I was a very happy girl!!

I honestly love this picture.  I have some crazy eyes going on, but I feel like I look really strong in my running in this picture.  

So excited about this medal!  It took me forever to get this selfie just right.  My hubs and the kids were getting restless and annoyed with me, but I finally got a decent one!  I really wanted the capital in the picture!  Love this race so much!  This will be a staple in my racing schedule!

After the race, we drove back to the hotel after stopping at Sonic for a snack.  None for me as ice cream and I do not get along.  The kids and Jay snacked while I showered and then had a light snack before completely crashing for the night.

The next morning, I got up before everyone else to get ready.  I wanted them to sleep as much as possible so that they would behave for Daddy!  HA!  I kept checking the weather like crazy because the forecast was calling for rain all day.  It hadn't started yet, but it looked like it was coming.  Not thrilled, but I knew I was going to run and do my best regardless!  I had packed umbrellas and plastic bags in the event of the rain so Jay and the kids would be covered, literally!  

For this race, I made sure to dress for the end temperature of the race.  I knew that even if it did rain that I would warm up and end up sweating buckets by the end of the race.  I wore shorts and a tank top with my visor since it might rain.  I also wore my new arm sleeves from my Mother's Day virtual run.  They worked really well.  I ended up peeling the right one off about half way through the race and pulling the left one down to around my watch but not off completely. 

I had made blueberry muffins for the kids to eat while I was racing so I had 2 of those before the race.  I made sure to have GU and twizzlers in my water bottle along with extra gum.  

We got to the race not as early as I would have liked but with enough time for me to wait around at the start line for a decent amount of time.   I felt pretty good starting this race.  It hadn't started to rain yet and it was overcast and a little chilly.

It didn't start to rain until I was about a mile-mile and a half into the race.  It actually felt really good because by that time I was starting to heat up. 

This is the only picture from the race that I actually liked!  This was about half to 3/4 of the way through the race running through the Arboretum.  It was at this point that I was starting to have my doubts about being able to finish the race.  I was starting to think that I couldn't do it, that I had bonked, and that I was stupid for doing these 2 races back to back.  I am actually very surprised that I have a smile on my face in this picture at this point in time.  I usually have these moments in a longer race.  Heck, I usually have them in a 5K, especially when I'm really trying to race for a PR.  When I get to this point, I usually take a few walking breaks, have my GU or twizzlers, and tell myself I just need to finish.  I usually give up on making a PR when I have these thoughts.  

However, I kept going and kept pushing.  I had my favorite peanut butter GU and kept trucking.  I made sure to grab Gatorade at the water stations as well as water to keep myself hydrated. I knew that even though it was raining, I was sweating like a pig and was getting dehydrated.  

I did get some really great encouragement at about mile 11.  I was trucking along and I had just finished running up the Edgewood hill, which is a BEAST of an incline!! I was coming down Monroe Street and a young woman and what I assume was her father were cheering on the runners.  I assume they had a family member running. Anyway, I always have the volume low on my headphones so I could hear the cheering of the crowd.  They gave me the best compliment.  As I was running by, the woman said, "Hey, she looks like she's still going strong."  I felt awesome hearing that!  I did feel like my form and pace were very good throughout most of the race and by this point I had gotten my running mojo back.  I knew I could make it to the end.  It was a little while after that that my phone died!  I had to run the last mile and a half with no music!  I knew I was going to live, but I really like listening to my music.

Again I was shocked when I crossed the finish line in 2:19:15!!  I had just PR'd my half marathon time!!  I was so excited!  I raced over to get my medal and then head to the Conquer the Capital tent to get my other medal for the challenge!  They are so cool!

I was starving so I grabbed a banana, chocolate milk, water, and my sack lunch from Panera.  I started walking along the finish line looking for my family, assuming they had seen my finish.  They didn't!  My hubs was getting texts at the checkpoints and had received the text that I had finished, but my time was so fast that they thought it was wrong.  It was about 20-30 minutes before I finally found them.  I had them really worried because they were trying to text me and my phone had died.  

After we finally met up, we decided to head to the hotel so I could shower and then get some breakfast/brunch somewhere.  We ended up eating at The Egg and I, which was delicious.  I, of course, wore my medals to brunch and the remainder of the day at home around the house.  

So proud of these medals!  I actually wore them to school on Tuesday after Memorial Day!  I had to show them off!!  

As of right now, I am SOOO doing these races again!  I actually loved it, even if I did bonk and it was raining!  It was a really great experience and one I would like to do again next year.  

So there it is.  The first part of the challenge completed!  Now to run 2 more half marathons in August and September while training for the full!!  Can't wait!! It's going to be great!

Run on my friends!!  

Laura