When you run a race as a workout you set yourself up for a bit of an emotional roller coaster: you relaxed, then it's all business, then you're doubtful, then you're little embarrassed, then you're shooting fire from you eyeballs. At least that is what the Leaf Peeper Half Marathon was for me two weeks ago when I ran it as part of Rise.Run.Retreat., a women's running retreat I host with Jesica from rUnladylike.com. [You can read more about this year's retreat HERE.] I know it may sound a bit strange to have a race be part of a running retreat, but there's something kind of magical about 10 women all getting ready, warming up and toeing the line of a race together. We may not be all the same pace, but there's a strength there that is contagious. We experienced it last year at Rise.Run.Retreat. 2015 when everyone who attended the retreat ran the Maine Half Marathon, there were PR's and outcomes that weren't time PR's but still breakthrough performances. I could feel the same energy at the start of the Leaf Peepers Half Marathon.

[Tweet "A race as part of a running retreat? @runfargirl shares why it's magical"]

With the CHaD HERO Half Marathon just two weeks after the Leaf Peepers race I knew I was going to have to be conservative if I wanted to "save" my effort to really race CHaD. I also knew I would have to have a very specific plan or else I would get carried away by my competitive spirit and end up running a hard race effort. I knew if I went into the race "running for fun" that things would go really wrong.

The Workout Plan

So I decided to make the race a workout at half marathon goal pace. My plan going into the race was to run easy for the first five miles, run half marathon goal pace (7:00-7:10) for another five miles and then a three mile cool down into the finish. Being surrounded by a group of positive and inspiring women (plus all the organizer duties that kept me busy during the retreat) really kept my mind of the race as a race. And I was able to get to the start line, relaxed, laughing and ready to have a good time.

When the race started I found myself next to Laura from This Runner's Recipes, we chatted and talked for the first miles before coming alongside Sandra from Organic Runner Mom, right before the hills started. And the hills were HILLS! I'm pretty sure that everyone at the retreat probably cursed my name at some point in the first three miles because I'm the one who picked the Leaf Peepers Half Marathon to be part of the retreat schedule.

Holy Hills

The first three miles gained about 900 feet in elevation (and there was one more hill at mile 11 to bring the total elevation gain to 945ft). Up the hills I just focused on a good and steady rhythm, I didn't want my heart rate to get to high and be working at max effort. I spent a good portion of the climb passing a few people, and then as we ran down the other side all those people I had passed when flying by as I returned to my "easy" paces.

On the way down I was rejoined by Laura and Sandra and we ran most of mile four side by side, chatting about the cows and the country views and the beautiful scenery. A majority of the course was on dirt roads and we passed by dairy farms and one garlic farm and a trumpet player. It had that small town quirky race feel that I absolutely LOVE.

At around mile 4.5 I took my GU downed some water and got ready to kick it into workout mode. There was a seed of doubt in my mind that I was going to be able to hit 7 min pace. I'm not sure why it seemed so impossible to me, maybe because I thought I'd been running for five miles it would be hard? I told myself that 7 min pace would feel easy compared to tempo pace where I'm trying to hit a the low 6:50's and high 6:40's. I pushed the doubt from my mind and when my watch bleeped the 5 mile mark I waved good-bye to Sandra and Laura and started my workout.

Kick it up

Thankfully the workout started on a bit of a down hill and so I was able to very smoothly transition into a faster pace. I was surprised at how good I felt and had to rein it in a bit, I wanted to negative split the workout if I could. Just before the mile 6 marker I passed Jesica, who was out on the course cheering with her cute little baby bump. I hit the mile marker and my watch beeped 6:55. Solid.

Then the course turned onto a paved road and there was a slight incline and then a mini little hill and more slight incline. We were going up and I was working HARD. It felt a little harder than I wanted it to be, but I kept after the pace, kept my cadence fast and my head up. Even though I was working hard I felt like I was flying past all the runners around me, it was kind of exhilarating. I gain a lot of confidence when I negative split a race and finish strong, in fact I think that if I'm passing people towards the end of the race because my pacing has been solid, I'm able to pull out an even stronger finish than if I were to run the same pace for the whole thing.

I clicked through the next two miles of my workout in 7:25 and 7:23, I definitely slowed as we went uphill the consolation though was that these two miles were on an out and back portion of the race. As I approached the cone to turn around I saw Allie from Vita Train for Life and we cheered for each other and air high-fived. Once I turned around the cone my effort felt much easier and as we ran back down the road I got to see all the ladies from Rise.Run.Retreat. it was honestly my favorite part of the race. We cheered for each other, fit pumped and air-high fives it was great to see Laura and Sandra's smiling faces and then Kara, Angela and Christine. And finally as I was nearing the end of the out and back I saw Sue and Natalie who were running together, the two of them literally stopped running and stepped to the side to snap pictures as I ran by, they were the race paparazzi. That whole section was amazing and I couldn't wipe the smile off my face. I hit the last two miles of my workout in 6:54 and 6:55.

I was honestly kind of happy that I was going to get to slow down at mile 10 and run easy into the finish, and part of me wonders how the heck I will sustain that pace over 13.1 miles this weekend--there's a lot of doubt. Granted I was running a little faster than my "goal race pace," but still that sustained hard effort is a little scary.

"You can do it!"

I saw Jes again at the mile 6/10 mark and slowed to my cool down jog. I knew at that point that everyone who I had passed would now be passing me and I was OK with that tried my best to not let it bother me and focused instead on cheering for the people who passed me. There's part of me that wanted to hold up a sign that said "This is my cool down," especially to the people cheering along the course. It's funny, when you know you're capable of a much faster time people's cheers of "You can do it!" seem condescending. If I had been running at race effort they probably would have said the same thing to me as I had run by and I would have taken it at face value, but somehow because I knew I wasn't "racing" it took on a whole different meaning. I decided to believe they meant well and carried on with my cool down, secretly telling everyone who passes die that "This is my cool down!"

[Tweet "Running a workout in a race is an emotional roller coaster...but mostly shooting fire from your eyeballs"]

Fire from my Eyeballs

I walked through one of the Gatorade stops before mile 12 just to get a bit more fluid and then started down the grassy trail that lead back into town. I didn't take my phone with me, but oh I wish I had it! The path was wooded on both sides, colored by changing autumn leaves. With the Green Mountains in the background it was absolutely lovely, and I was sure that everyone who had cursed me about the hills was probably loving the trail as much as I was. It wove between quaint and quintessentially Vermont homes before opening up on to the street. Just when we hit the pavement a man came up on my right shoulder and as he passed me he said, "I knew I'd see you again."

I'm pretty sure that fire shot out of my eyeballs and bored holes in his back as he ran past me. Ugh. I knew what he meant. He thought I'd gone out to fast, burned up in the middle with my strong pace and believed he would get back to me because he was running a smart race and I was clearly not. It took all the restraint I could muster to not drop another sub 7 min mile and blow past him to the finish. I wanted to SO bad. But I let it go. I kept repeating to myself (or maybe it was out loud too?) "Save it for CHaD. Save it for CHaD."

I crossed the finish line to the cheers of Allie and Carly from Fine Fit Daily, who had driven down to watch us all finish. We waited for the rest of the women to come in and then returned to the Cabin. It was a great culmination to a great weekend at Rise.Run.Retreat.

I would run this half again in a heart beat, the course was so perfect and I loved the varied terrain from paved to dirt to grass path. Plus the stunning scenery made for a great backdrop.

I'm really happy with how I ran the workout, even it it was a bit fast on a few miles I ended up averaging 7:02/mile and that's where I wanted to be.

--Sarah

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Leaf Peepers Half Marathon Race Recap-

The Workout Plan

Kick it up

"You can do it!"

Fire from my Eyeballs

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