Run to the Pub Race Recap

Happy St. Patrick’s Day!!

Sharing my first race recap of the year. I guess I did have an earlier trail run in January, but for some reason I don’t count it as a race.

Marc and I arrived to Bozeman later Friday night. My brother made us a great vegetable stir fry with rice. It was tasty. We stayed up a little later than we should have watching a movie with my brother and his wife. Having the race at 10 a.m. meant we didn’t have to get up super early.

It’s Montana, so it doesn’t take long to get anywhere. We left the house after 8, so we could exchange Marc’s race shirt for a different size. They gave him a women’s MD, which by the way made him look like like a big man, instead of his scrawny self. It was hilarious. We loaded the buses and were on our way to the Half Marathon start.

It was a good thing we got on the buses earlier than the 9:15 a.m. last call time, because the bathroom line was super long. For some reason they had a total of 6 port-a-potties. Sure there wasn’t many runners (700 halfers), but still bathrooms are a must people!! It was so cold waiting for the bathrooms, with snow and ice covering the ground. Mountain breezes are way colder than they would be in the city…FACT!!

By the time we got through waiting for bathrooms, we only had 20 minutes until race time. We stayed on the gear bus extra long to take our layers off, and bring feeling back into our feet and hands. With 10 minutes to start, we braved the cold and huddled for warmth at the start line.

I told Marc I already wasn’t feeling a PR. I had been nauseous all morning and felt really weak. My goal was to finish without making any bathroom breaks. Marc ran with me the whole way, still PR’d, but he could have gone faster.

The first 3 miles were a gradual incline, then we hit a nice downhill. I felt fine the first mile, besides my numb feet. It took awhile to warm up my muscles and ease into the race. I didn’t gain feeling back into my toes until around mile 4.5.

• Mile 1: 7:18
• Mile 2: 7:24
• Mile 3: 7:13
• Mile 4: 6:52

We hit a couple smaller hills around mile 5 and 7. We then enjoyed a little downhill with some flat ground. The air was fresh. Mountain air is the best to breathe in. I started to feel toasty by mile 5, with the sun starting to peek through, so I was glad to have a breeze part of the way.

• Mile 5: 6:53
• Mile 6: 6:45
• Mile 7: 7:01
• Mile 8: 6:50
• Mile 9: 7:24

It was harder to breath with the higher elevation though, so I was struggling to keep my breathing steady. By mile 10, we hit a nice incline and then the crowd told us “it’s all down hill from here.” I kept telling Marc not to worry about me and to just go so he could PR. He wouldn’t leave me though.

• Mile 10: 7:50
• Mile 11: 6:55

I was thankful for this, but I also felt bad. I originally wanted a PR and my goal time was 1:25. I knew with the way I have been feeling lately it wasn’t going to happen. There were times I didn’t think I was going to finish, which has never happened before in a half marathon. I usually love this distance, but it was way tough for me that morning.

I was elated to see the 1 mile to go sign. We rounded a corner, turned onto Main Street, and sprinted to the finish. Most people were running to the free beer, I was running the opposite direction, because the last thing that sounded good was beer.

• Mile 12: 7:20
• Mile 13: 6:54

My mom and brother were at the finish cheering us on. My little brother was yelling at Marc “Just beat her. Take her Marc.” Such a sweet little brother I have ;). After we received our medal and gear bag, we went to the Co-op to grab some grub.

Official time: 1:33:42 for 13.15 miles….Marc beat me by a second…..

I wasn’t feeling entirely like eating, but I forced down some soup and later a glass of tart cherry juice. All I could think about was a warm shower.

Sadly we didn’t win a trip to Ireland……

After showering and relaxing for a bit. My mom took us all out to dinner for some recovery food. I still wasn’t feeling like stuffing my face, so had some soup and half a sandwich.

Logan (my little brother) wanted to show Marc some of Bozeman. We drove up to Bridger Bowl, a ski resort about 20 minutes from Bozeman. It’s gorgeous. Really Bozeman is a gorgeous city, as it’s surrounded by mountains. Snagged a few photos.

I loved the snow capped mountains in the background of this photo.

Sunday morning Marc and I did a quick 5 mile recovery run before heading home. We hit up the trail right across the street from my brother’s house. Loved feeling the warmth of the sun, having the backdrop of the mountains, and the coolness of the mountain breeze.I felt so much better Sunday morning. I wished the race could have been Sunday instead.

Views from my brothers house Sunday morning.

We made sure to get a photo of Tow-Mater and Lightning McQueen before we hit the road.

Only in Montana. This is actually right next to my brother’s house. Marc says you always see the most random things in Montana.

It was a fast trip but still a blast. Always love racing with my hubby and seeing family.

Hope you all had a great weekend!!

Did you do any St. Paddy Day themed races? What’s your tradition on St. Patrick’s Day?