Racing in the Rain

*post actually written 1/4/15* Tristan and I ran the Hokie Half Marathon on October 12, 2014 in Blacksburg, VA. We needed to do a 12 mile training run that weekend, so we looked up races, because what's more fun than tacking on an extra mile and getting to run as part of a race? Plus I was kind of tired of running routes in Lynchburg by this point, so I thought it would be fun to run in a different place.

The race was pretty small and low-key. Blacksburg is only about a 2 hour drive from Lynchburg so it was an easy weekend trip. Tristan's sister Bailey goes to college at Virginia Tech, so we stayed with her. Besides running the race, we got to do some shopping, go out to eat in Blacksburg, and hang out with Bailey and her dog, so it was a fun weekend trip!

The only thing that didn't cooperate was the weather. On Saturday it was rainy, foggy, cold, and drizzly. We went to packet pick up and got our short sleeve and long sleeve tech shirts. They didn't really have much of an expo, but the shirts were awesome! The rain let up that evening, and we went to a haunted house- it was terrifying! I hid behind Tristan and Bailey the whole time. I was glad the rain stopped for awhile because we had to wait in line outside for over an hour to get in.

We were hoping it would clear up on Sunday morning, but the rain only got worse! When we started the race, it was cold and raining lightly. Throughout the race, the weather alternated between a light drizzle and full-on hardcore RAIN. I started out with a long sleeved shirt over my tank top, but I had to take it off after a few miles because it got soaked and was weighing me down.

The bike path we were running on would have been really nice in nice weather. Since it had been raining for two days straight, we were running through huge puddles. I tried to go around most of them, but some of the puddles spanned the entire bike path, and there was no way but through them. By the end of the race, my shirt was soaked, my shoes were soaked, and I was numb from my elbow to my fingertips. It was that cold miserable kind of rain that makes you want to curl up inside with hot chocolate and a good book.

If I hadn't signed up for this race, I probably would have put off running for another day. I'm a wimp when it comes to weather. I have to say, I've been pretty lucky with a lot of my races. It may have been cloudy or dreary or sprinkled a bit, but this is the first time when it just outright rained on us the whole time. We did feel kind of hardcore for braving the elements and running a good race regardless.

We ran the whole race at a pretty good pace. During the middle miles, I was setting the pace, and at the end, Tristan was setting the pace (and I was just trying to keep up!). We had good teamwork! On the last mile, I thought maybe I could break 2 hours, so I picked it up even more, but it wasn't meant to be. We finished in just over 2 hours. After we stopped, it started to downpour! I was so cold I couldn't feel my hands. They had chili and other post-race snacks, but we didn't stick around. Despite the rain, we thought it was a good race. I think it was one of my best races in terms of pacing and staying strong till the end.

Our Splits:

1	9:34
2	9:01
3	9:14
4	9:19
5	9:22
6	9:37
7	9:43
8	9:15
9	9:23
10	9:20
11	9:05
12	8:58
13	8:53

We did a good job of starting out slow, keeping a steady pace, and finishing strong! Our last 5 miles got progressively faster, and our last 2 miles were under a 9 minute pace!

Official time: 2:01:39