Well, I have to say that losing 20lb. is a great way to get faster. I PR’d the Capitola Half by a LOT and finished in 2:14:48!
Like I said earlier, I had my doubts about this race because it’s got some short hills. I haven’t trained much and what training I did was on a flat track or the moderately flat Los Gatos Creek Trail. But my previous PR of 2:32:04 was two years ago at the San Jose Rock and Roll Half — a fast, perfectly flat course. I weighed around 205lb. back then. Today, I weigh around 185. I think two years of additional training, three full marathons, and losing 10% of my body weight made all the difference.
Now, the Capitola race is a little short of 13.1 miles. Everyone’s GPSs came in between 12.9 and 13.0. I knew this when I crossed the finish line, so after I thought about it for a few steps, I started my Garmin again to walk the last 0.1 miles. Have to get that Strava badge!
So, after walking halfway out to the end of the pier until the Garmin said “13.11,” my time was 2:19:10. Doesn’t matter: my race results say “2:14:48” and that’s all I care about 🙂