In short, I survived! And with all my toes and fingers, too 
Vanilla Soy Yogurt With Mini PB Cups
Pumpkin Oatmeal With Mighty Maple, Maple Cashew Butter, And Maple Butter
The night before was filled with carbs, of course. I meant of went a little overboard with the maple-flavored goods, but how could someone not? I love the duo of mighty maple and maple cashew butter with some New Hampshire maple butter. Mmmm. I also had a reunion with the Food Network; after 4 weeks of 20 channels, being at home with my DVR was heavenly until I had to get a good night’s sleep for the race.
Nature's Path Peanut Energy Bar With Butter Toffee And Peanuts, Pomegranate Yogurt With Organic Dark Chocolate
Nature's Path Peanut Energy Bar With Butter Toffee And Peanuts
The run itself started by the New Hampshire/Maine coast border, which was a good 90 minutes away. We left bright and early and I had a breakfast to eat in the car. I mist have been nervous because I didn’t even want oatmeal; I needed something with some crunch! I smothered a Nature’s Path peanut butter energy bar with butter toffee peanut butter and roasted peanuts. Holy peanut power, Batman. That’s fuel! And of course there was plenty of anti-oxidant rich organic dark chocolate on a pomegranate Chobani.
Waiting To Start
If there’s one thing you can’t control, it’s the weather in New England. Today, it was below 40 with a strong coastal wind, too. In line for the bathroom, the man behind me said I was “brave” for just having basketball shorts on. I didn’t want to admit it to him but I don’t own running tights and my shoes have been the same pair since July. Whoops!
Organic Jolly Beans
My pre-run fuel was some of these runner’s magic bites. I also had about another 1/2 a handful while waiting to start. If you’re going to boredom eat jelly beans, it might as well be right before a big run, right?
Race Recap
So we’re all on the same page, this was my longest outdoor run yet. My previous outdoor distance PR was 11.25. On the treadmill, I’ve ran 17 miles, and had a half-marathon time record of 1:46:28. That was all the past. My goal for this was sub 1:40.
Miles 1-3: I started off with “the runner’s high” and was really enjoying myself, listening to country music and practically dancing along. I passed a lot of people in this time, and it felt great to be going so fast. I also decided not to look at my pace ever; my time goal seemed lofty, and like if I pushed for it I’d burn out.
Miles 3-5: I really enjoyed the scenery. We were on the New Hampshire Hampton coast, so there was plenty to look at. I couldn’t imagine how many millions of dollars those houses were worth. This was also difficult because the entire run practically was against the wind.
Miles 6-9:
Miles 10-11: My left leg first started hurting around here. At 11.5, I could feel soreness in both of my legs. I started to think about it, and it made a lot of sense; why wouldn’t my legs hurt then when it’s the farthest on terrain they’ve ever run?
Miles 12-13.1: I kicked it in gear, gave it what I had left, and pushed for a good time. The endline was confusing, cars were driving in between me and the finish line, and it wasn’t even really made clear where that was :-/ That sour not aside, I tried to finish with a smile.
After The Finish Line
Alright, really I was thinking “Can we get in the car and turn on the heat?!” I still haven’t gotten an “official” time, but here’s what my Garmin had:
Garmin Stats
Whoopee! It wasn’t the 1:3X I was hoping for, but I couldn’t complain with the winds being what they were. That was still a huge distance and time PR, and in some of the worse conditions. I’m very happy with all of that… for now.
Lemon Pie Larabar
I did make one very big rookie mistake. I overlooked the time when I’d need to refuel. I did not realize that this half-marathon was 90 minutes away in virtually a black hole. The only restaurants we could find clearly did not have ethical meat or even vegetarian options besides pasta, which would not work when avoiding gluten. And so I had a lemon pie Larabar to hold me over until we got back to my hometown. It gave me plenty of time to think about how much better I could be at refueling. We all need to learn our lessons somehow, right?
Chipotle Menu
Near home,w e stopped at Chipotle, which I heard was very eco-friendly after watching the CEO on Oprah. It may be eco-friendly, but I thought the options were really limited. No brown rice? What’s up with that? They didn’t even have fresh tomatoes… I just got what I could and then added more when we got home.
Black Bean And Sweet Potato Mexican Salad
On top of lettuce was all the black beans/salsa/peppers from my burrito bowl, 1/2 a sweet potato I microwaved with salsa, and the leftover black beans from last night with a dollop of Chipotle’s guacamole. My mouth was on fire after this! Even if their options aren’t great, at least what Chipotle does have is pretty tasty. And at this point, I think we were all pretty hungry, so there was no judging shoveling Mexican food into our mouths while standing up.
Sweet Potato And Salt
After a much needed hot shower, no one wanted this sweet potato, so I’ll take it! When these are nice and soft, they’re pretty much candy to me. They taste a lot better roasted but who has 90 minutes to think about how their sweet potato will taste?
Ginger Root Beer Zevia
And since I’ve been writing this, I chugged my favorite flavor of Zevia. I don’t know why I didn’t think about this earlier. All in all, my first race was an excellent experience, and there will be more 
I just need time to recoup while the weather realizes how hot it should be in March, almost April.
A lot of people rave about Chipotle, but if you’re getting anything besides a salad I don’t think it’s worth it- I totally agree with you, there really aren’t that many choices!
Congrats on the half!
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Nice debut race! You will get sub 1:40 in the next one! Or will it be a marathon?
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Yay!!! Huge congrats– you ROCKED that race!
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Hey don’t worry about your time! That was your longest outdoor run! Great job!
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Congrats on the great race!
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i hate chipotle! i think their food is pretty awful and their options are way too limited.
on a happier note, congrats on your half debut! you will definitely go sub 1:40 next time. awesome job!
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You rocked that half! Congratulations!!!
And I like Chipotle because they totally hook you up on the guac
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Congrats, Evan!!!!!!!!!
The Nature’s Path Peanut Energy Bar looks so chunky and awesome..nice photo of that, i may have to try it.
Thx for the compliments on my layout and that it’s “so me”. I think so too
The refueling and not having a clearcut plan after a race…OMG there is NOTHING worse. nothing. It sucks. You feel like you could eat the gearshift in the car you’re so hungry and tired and blah and not able to think straight. BTDT and you’re right, next time you’ll plan better. That said, you had a stellar race and congrats!!! and i LOVE the pics of you (you rarely dole those out so thanks)!
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Woo hoo – nice job!
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great job on the run evan! you did awesome!
i’m also glad you enjoyed the scenery and surroundings too! that’s a huge part of racing or me…and being able to people watch and envy their wardrobe…
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Evan, that’s awesome!!! What a wonderful time! I hate when races have distances too long! You’d have been below your goal without that added .12 I bet!! Awesome job!!
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geez that is darn cold! seriously, mad props to you.. and i think that time is awesome! The Root Beer Zevia is my fave <3
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Proud of you Evan. What a great job! And beat your treadmill time too
…now go get some ice cream already ! 
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Congrats on your race! I’m running my first half marathon in a month and I’m just hoping to clock in at sub 2:00! Any tips for me?
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Evan Thomas Reply:
March 29th, 2010 at 5:49 pm
A couple people I know are doing a “Practice run” for theirs where they do that distance a few weeks before hand. I think it would probably help to teach the legs not to get sore after 11 miles
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oh my gosh Congrats on finishing the half marathon!!! You’re seriously like a minute away from your goal, but that’s almost nothing!!! My goal is to actually be able to run one! Thanks for your inspiration!!! I saw you jelly beans pre-run and laughed out loud. OMG those are you signature snacks Evan.
hehehe
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Congrats! You did awesome! Also, if you weren’t near the front at the start, but still started your garmin when the gun went off, your time will be a few minutes faster. It sounds like a great race that you trained hard for. And 17 miles on the treadmill? Insanity! Just wow. I have a treadmill limit of 6 miles. Sorry about the weather; it’s been cold and rainy here in NYC too. Ick. Hope you have a great week!
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Yay congrats on your half! What a great time! New England weather is so unpredictable, but it still looks like you had decent weather! GREAT time!
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Congrats on getting your first race behind and you getting a pretty freaking awesome time!
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Congrats on the race time!!
PS You mind if I ask you where you find those Nature’s Path bars? I can’t find them anywhere around here.
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Evan Thomas Reply:
March 29th, 2010 at 5:58 pm
I actually won them by being a fan of Nature’s Path on facebook
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Wow, congratulations! You still made awesome time, and I know you’ll beat that time next race.
P.S. I leave for a few days and you’ve posted so many posts! I have a lot to catch up on…haha.
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My comment just disappeared! Basically I said congrats congrats congrats! And then I talked about beautiful Maine is and then I asked where youre from (I know Ive asked you before!).
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Evan Thomas Reply:
March 29th, 2010 at 5:52 pm
I’m from central MA(Framingham area) and then obviously Providence by virtue of being a Brown student
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Congratulations Evan! You should be SO proud of yourself!!!! I can’t believe you didn’t feel light headed after the run!!?? Did they not at least have crackers, apples, granola bars, carb gel etc after the race?? Congrats again- that’s a huge accomplishment!
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Congratulations! Fantastic race, definitely a time to be proud of. Hope you enjoyed yourself and felt a sense of accomplishment with the training you put in.
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congrats on the race! i haven’t heard of that flavor of zevia – it sounds good.
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way to go evan ! i LOVE chipotles guacamole
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chiptole DEF should have a brown rice option! I noticed when I went there before (i didnt get anything, the BF did) but that they didn’t havve brown rice! whole wheat wraps wouldn’t hurt either!
congrats on the time and the run!! amazinggg job! and yes, you def cant control this New england weather! RAIN AGAIN! BLAHHH
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AWESOME job!! So impressed, especially with those winds!!
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congrats on an awesome race!
on & i am now craving peanut butter cups in the WORST way thanks to your first picture…
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Congrats on the half! I’m always amazed that people do stuff like that for fun. Not something I’ll ever do but I’ll sure stand on the sides and cheer everyone on.
Chipotle is a good option 7 I agree about the no brown rice.
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Congratulations on a great race!! Woo hoo.
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Congrats! You rocked that half! Well done
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nice work on the half. i did the 20 miler and the wind was absolutely brutal at the end (i don’t know where you guys ended but we ended in hampton beach). the end was confusing too but i’m so happy to be done! haha. congrats again
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So, have you been bitten by the race bug? Any plans in the near future?! Congrats on your first half!
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Congrats!!! Sounds like an awesome race.
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Congratulations! Sorry the weather was so horrible. Hopefully, it will be better at the Pvd. Marathon.
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AWESOME Evan! I am so proud of you..your first half marathon and that is a ROCKING time! YAY!
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Congrats, by the way, where did you get the mini PB cups from?
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Evan Thomas Reply:
March 30th, 2010 at 11:09 am
They’re a Trader Joe Product
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Congrats on the race! I loved reading the recap. Slowly working my way up to running more and I’m loving in
Thanks for all your entries in the giveaway!
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