Race Report: Colfax Marathon Relay

Team Jviatiors A (me, Scary, C-dog, Utah, Little Italy), aka 4 people faster
than me that may have gotten me the only sub-4 marathon finish I'll ever have.

Well since I ran the Colorado Marathon just a week before this race, I wisely realized that it probably wouldn't be my smartest move to try and run the Colfax Half again this year. Though I really enjoyed it last year and kind of wanted to try and beat my 2009 time, over my last several months of "running smarter," I did actually learn something. I learned to keep the big picture in mind, and not sacrifice my lifelong running "career" for one measly race. So, I didn't register for the Colfax Half. However, if you paid attention to the title of this post, you see that instead, I got myself¹ onto a relay team. I ran the anchor leg of the relay, which in my opinion was the best part of the race, for several reasons.

One: the race started at 6am. However, I only had to show up for the final 5.3 miles...which meant sleeping in and rolling into my relay exchange point about 8:30. Lovely!

Two: My leg was through the lovely LoDo, then past all three of my former work office buildings, along a short piece of Colfax, then through City Park. Splendid!

Three: I got spectators and finish line goodness. Delightful!

Four: Plenty of paparazzi race pics due to photos positioned near the start/finish of the race. Fabulous!

Five: I got to encourage all those full marathon runners around me in those last 5 miles, when I knew they were feeling it. My team finished in 3:51:06, so those were my fellow middle of the pack peeps I was boosting. Just one short week after my own full marathon, I knew first-hand how helpful that support can be. Fulfilling! Rewarding! Memorable!

Six: It was only 5.3 miles. Cake!²

One of the paparazzi shots where I don't look tired.
There were very few of those.

Seven: I spotted my HRRC running buddies, who were there to help support fellow HRRC first-time marathoner Massud, just as I came into the park for the last couple of miles. Marvelous!

Highlands Ranch Running Club Gang: Coach PBuck; Fastie Roxane;
Me; Marathoner Massud; Flying Frenchman Carol; Climbing Anne

So, it was a great, fun relay event for me. Our team ran well, had fun, and spent some quality time outside of the office. It was fun to hang around after the race and just chat and relax (usually I have hubs and the shorties there, and they are anxious to go but this time I was alone). I enjoyed this race last year, and it was my first half marathon so I really didn't have much experience to measure it against. But this year, older, wiser and with more long races under my belt....I still enjoyed the race. And I think it was much better organized than last year. Plus they finally got with the program and had tech tees for the race shirts. (Thanks Kaiser Permanente!)

The brave Jviation crew: Kristin; Timmy; Alex; Me; Scott; Leah;
Christy; Anna; Brooklyn

______________________________________

¹ - what I really did was convince 9 of my colleagues to join ME in forming two teams, so that I could participate in this race
² - Less "cake" more "dry, stale, bran muffin"; I can't lie, my legs were tired one week post-marathon, even only doing 5 miles

Race Report: Platte River Half Marathon 2010

WEATHER
Wow, what a spectacularly perfect day for racing! The weather was heavenly and nearly the entire race course runs along the Platte River trail with it's gurgling water, grassy banks, shady trees (as you get into Denver; not to be confused with Shady Figures, see following sentence)...and goose poop. Now, the view on the other side of the trail is typically pretty disgust (industrial buildings, Waste Management dump and the like) but as long as you only look to the River side, it is beautiful. Keep that in mind if you run this race.

OVERALL RACE
Now for the race/organization assessment: plenty of parking, well organized, started on time, easy to navigate, porta potty attendants to keep the lines moving, fast-moving post-race food lines, plenty of post-race seating, good water/gatorade/gu stops, a free RTD light rail ticket back to my car at the race start. Can't ask for much more than that. Oh wait, yes I can: good shirts. Well, PR1/2 delivered with a decent-looking white LS tech tee that I won't be embarrassed to wear (Highlands Ranch, take note). This race is a SCORE in my opinion. A great value for the money, and very convenient. It was a good sized crowd (2,000-ish runners) but not so large as to be unmanageable. I give this race an all-around Thumbs Up. If you need more specific metrics, it would probably get an A in my book.

MY RACE RESULTS
Unfortunately, despite the organizers best attempt to persuade me otherwise with their little PR1/2 logo, this race was not a PR for me. I did go into it as a training run on my marathon plan, but also naturally thought I could probably best my 2:07:08 from last years Colfax 1/2. So, I went into it with a good plan for an easy PR.

The plan
Run 9:30 for miles 1-4, assess at mile 5 whether to maintain that or pick it up a little
Run 9:20 for miles 5-10, assess at mile 10 whether to maintain or pick it up a little
Run 9:10-9:20 for miles 10-13.1
Finish 2:02-ish

The reality
Miles 1-5: Ran 9:30 (splits: 9:32, 9:35, 9:33, 9:30, 9:37)
Miles 6-9: Assessed and felt a little tired so decided to slow to 10:00 pace (9:53, 10:19, 10:11, 10:34-included walking through Gu/water stop)
Miles 10-13.1: Little pick-up after the Gu (splits: 9:54, 10:00, 10:05, 10:41-HUGE viaduct over to the other side of the river at mile 12=very slow running uphill, 9:33)
Finished: 2:11:23

So, the moral of this race story for me was to learn that I cannot use the same fuel strategy when I race as when I do a LSD at 10:30 pace. I need fuel sooner to keep the fast pace going and not feel tired. Should have Gu-ed at mile 5 and again at 9 or 10. I think I would have been able to stay 9:30 and below had I done that. But I did learn that 9:50-10:00 is probably an achievable marathon pace for Colorado, as long as I fuel properly. So all-in-all it was a great race and a great MP training run!

My, What Big Wind You Have

I am back in Nebraska for yet another annual pilgrimmage to my husband's small home town of Columbus for the rockin alumni basketball tourney. (Let me say, yes, this basketball thing was hot when all the boys were in their 20's and could cruise up and down the court like shirtless, be-abbed, sweaty-but-tough ninja-gazelles, quite possible still drunk from the previous night's beerfest at Glur's...now that they are in their 30's with desk-job-abs, hairy chests--where does the hair come from all of a sudden???--and kids? A little like Eastbound & Down, only with self-glorified high school basketball players. But they love it and it's an immutable annual tradition....one I now find myself taking PTO days from work to participate in. Who knew Nebraska could be considered vacation? Well, I mean besides folks from South Dakota?)

And on the schedule for this weekend's long run: 20-miler. Now, this is a small town and one that I strugled to find 10 miles to run in last year. How the heck was I going to make 20 miles?! Answer: laps. Yes, 3 miles over to the other side of town...3 laps around the 2.5-mile Wagner's Lake loop, a couple out-and-back laps on that rails-to-trails thing on the Platte River levee that I think I am not supposed to be on but that I didn't notice the sign for until I was coming off of it, 3 miles back to the inlaws' donut-shaped lake, and 2 laps around the 1.5-mile loop there. Whew! I did it! And it was the most completely, gloriously, hideously FLAT 20 miles I have ever seen. Who knew flat could get old?! I was actually longing for my Colorado hills at a couple point, just do I could shake up my legs (and get a little downhill action). Luckily, the wind provided all the exciting challenge that I normally get from hills. What, 40-mile per hour winds don't excite you? Yeah, me neither; welcome back to Nebraska.

And in an unrelated-yet-related note, they finally posted the race results from the Downtown Runaround 5 mile race I did here back in July. I pretty much knew my time, but had no idea how I did overall, as they didn't use timing chips and weren't quite as hi-tech as I am used to with the CO races. Well, turns out I finished 8 in my age group, which I think is my best finish to-date (hubs also finished 8 in his AG; we're Identical Age Group Twins, yay!). It wasn't a very big race, but was definitely skewed to younger, speedier runners, so I am happy with that finish (the top 100 finishers out of only 254 runners were all under 8:00 pace). One of these days I'll get an AG award...though I may have to stage my own race to get it.

Race Report: HRCA St. Patrick's Day 5K

Well, the short story is that I was a minute slower than my PR. But the long story is that it was only because of weather and cautious running on the ice, rather than decreased running ability. I felt good the whole way, never reached the puke threshold, and had plenty of gas left at the end of the race* to sprint the finish.

Yep, the temp on the dash of my car say 16 degrees, and that is a snowflake
to let me know that duh, snow is possible at 16 degrees. Thanks Volkswagen.

It snowed Friday about 10 inches. It was 16 degrees when I arrived at the race at 8:15. The sun did come out in time for the start, but it was still only 20 degrees, icy, and cold. They had plowed the paved course, but there was a lot of icy patches the whole way. I did mile 1 pretty reasonably (8:34) considering the conditions, but never could pick it up as fast I would on dry ground. A couple of speedier runners had fallen and ended up bleeding or with jacked up limbs, and quite frankly a PR wasn't really worth it to me on this race. Yeah, I'm fair-weather tough like that.

The icy start...

...and the icy finish. That's HRRC runner Super Fast All-American Kyle.

It was super-fun to run with all the Highlands Ranch Running Club (HRRC) members that were there, and unfortunately the Flying Frenchman is on the DL and couldn't run...but the upside benefit of that is that we had our own personal running club photographer there. Score! So, without further delay, here are my momentous race photos.

Trying not to fall on the ice, coming into the last quarter mile at the finish.
*Please note Red Guy behind me.

Uh oh, I do NOT like Red Guy passing me...

Better not slow downn now Red Guy, I am coming for you...

Oh, so sorry Red Guy, but your immasculation is of no concern of mine!

Red Guy, you just got chicked! By ONE second!
Yes, I count the small victories.

RACE STATS
Net Time: 27:30, 8:53 pace
10 in my age division
16 female
64 overall finisher out of 238
But most importantly, one second faster than Red Guy who thought he could dude me at the end; not so, buddy!

And oh yeah, RIP Gay Leprechaun; never thought I'd miss you but now that you are gone, I do.

This year's St. Patrick's Day 5k race shirt, which is sublimely blah.
I feel a bit of loss where the Fugly used to be....
(Sorry, I am too lazy to open it in photoshop and rotate it.
It's easier to require you to turn your head to the left instead.)

Race Report: Wild West Relay 2009

So I hinted that this race was not at all what I expected, and it truly wasn’t. It completely blew my expectations out of the water. Going in, I thought it would be grueling, uncomfortable, long, potentially hateful, though possibly "fun" in a runno-masochistic sort of way. Yet for some reason, I wanted to do it anyway. It turned out to be manageably challenging, pretty dang comfy (for a rented Econoline van), the shortest 30 hours of my life, and absolutely addictively fun. I absolutely LOVED this race. I think it was a mix of the camaraderie--both of my teammates and the runner population as a whole—the sport, the excitement, the challenge, and the absolutely breathtaking scenery.

My team ended up with a 7:00 start time and planned to meet at the starting line at 6AM., Because I had opted not to drive up to Ft. Collins the night before, I had to get up at 3:30 in the morning on Friday in order to get going and arrive on time. Of course, I was up until nearly midnight Thursday night (freaking/packing/freaking some more/unpacking my over-packing/freaking yet sill more) so this promised to potentially start out very badly. But, I think because I was so excited and nervous, I didn’t really have any extra emotional room left over to be tired Friday morning. I was in Van #2, which meant that we wouldn’t actually be running until close to noon. So I spent a leisurely morning lying around and getting to know my vanmates. We made a breakfast stop, a grocery stop, and then headed up to the first van exchange to wait. At the inactive van waiting area, I kept seeing other runners and thinking, “wow, that guy/girl looks REALLY familiar” and it was kind of an odd, surreal thing. I mean, EVERYONE looked familiar, but obviously I didn’t know 99% of them. It was all a very déjà vous experience.

waiting at van exchange 1
hey kid, don't I know you?

I only knew 2 of my 12 teammates before-hand, and both of them happened to be in Van #1, so I was essentially stuck with 5 strangers for the duration. Except that “stuck” isn’t the right description because these 5 people turned out to be some of the coolest, nicest, funniest, simpatico runners I’ve ever met. I cannot imagine 5 better people to be randomly teamed and plopped into a rental van for 30 hours with. I think the great company definitely made the race more fun, but my overall feeling, constantly throughout the entire race was one of, “These are my people. I found my people.” (So this is the point when I go a wee bit Hippie Anne on you before you know what’s hit you, in order to explain the significant personal magnitude of this race for me.) I think that’s part of why I like racing so much, in addition to my regular running: the community of like-minded folks who don’t think you are nuts for getting out of bed at dark-thirty in the morning in order to run 3 or 6 or 13 or 26.2 or 50 or 100 miles (ok maybe 50+ is a teensy bit nuts-o), just for the fun of it. The sheer number of racers at this event validated that I am not [as] crazy as the looks and comments from all those non-running coworkers and acquaintances lead me to believe. Or at least, there is a large population of other runners out there who are the same amount of crazy as me; and that in itself is comforting and validating.

As for my runs, I ran legs 12, 24 and 36, which logistically speaking are the best legs to run IMHO. I got plenty of rest time upfront. I got to run into the van exchanges, which were the most heavily-populated with cheering crowds and music. I got to take a hot shower (commence 17-year-old-boy's-fantasy: 25 naked, in-shape chicks, 4 to a group shower, in a high school locker room--you're welcome GQH) after leg 24 and the promptly fall asleep for 5 hours all warm and clean. I got to run into the finish, joined by the rest of my team to cross the line together. Perfection!

amazing mountain views

Amazing! Cows! Next to the highway! Mooing loudly!
At the start of my first leg!

My first run (leg 12) was about 3:00PM on Friday. It was sunny and hot and about 8500’ elevation, but I only had 2.5 miles so it was completely manageable. My second run (leg 24) was a heavenly, wondrous 5.5 miles at 3:00AM on a rural highway, under the full moon and a gazillion stars. I passed several runners on this leg, as though it was at 8000’, it was fairly flat with just a few gently rolling hills. The thought I kept having over and over and over as I ran was, “THIS is why I run.” It was so dark, quiet, peaceful, and the weather was perfect (about 40 degrees or so). I just felt so happy and grateful to be there and able to do that run. I felt strong, fast, and free, and my heart was full. It was probably one of my top 3 runs of all time. I then got some good, solid sleep after this run and felt refreshed when I woke up Saturday morning to enjoy a hot pancake breakfast at the van exchange site.

van exchange #2, early, before it got busy & turned into a
full-on party scene. what, you didn't know
that Woods Landing, WY is where the Partay People go?

the sweet little babbling brook where i cooled
and de-stunkified my feet at van exchange #2. it is now
classified as a Superfund site...

My last run (leg 36) of 5 miles was about 1:00PM on Saturday. It was back down at about 6500’ and was another lovely leg that ran along the river in Steamboat., where I could hear and see all the tubers having fun on the water. It was warm and sunny and I SO wanted to jump in the water and join them! This run for me was just ok; I was hot and by the last little uphill at the end, my legs were starting to get tired. I knew that Hubs and the Shorties would be waiting for me at the end, so I was eager to see them, along with the rest of my teammates. And I was ready for some food!

My camera battery died. Must. Get. Pictures. From. Vanmates.
especially the one of us cleverly putting bunny ears on one
another at Rabbit Ears Pass. It was a lot cuter going on minimal sleep.

My team (the Greatful Treaders) finished the race in 30:16:50 0 with an average pace of:09:08 and 61st out of 142 teams overall. We were 10th in our division (Mixed) out of 33. It amazes me that the winning team finished in only 19 hours and 37 minutes, with an average pace of 5:55. That freakin knocks my shorts off! (really, literally, they are sitting here next to me on the floor as I type this now! Ok so maybe that’s because I changed out of them after my run and left them in a sopping wet heap on the carpet, but whatev.) I know they passed us at some point, but for the life of me, I never saw them. Obviously they were going too fast for me to notice more than the swift breeze sent up in their wake. 12 people running 5:55 up THOSE mountains for 200 miles! Now THAT is some serious crazy.

Ok so perhaps I may have already decided which (more challenging, more miles) leg I want next year. And I might have been mulling over trying the 6x6 Ultra category. And it’s possible that I have been secretly googling “ultra running races” the last few days. Full-on Nuts-o, here I come.

Race Report: 2009 Downtown Runaround 5 Mile

What you can't tell by this post-race pic is that my clothes are, literally,
completely soaking wet with sweat. I love humidity!

This was a race I not only hadn't planned on running, but didn't even know existed. It was happy coincidence that we were visiting the in-laws for a family reunion in Columbus, NE the weekend of the race. Upon arriving, my father-in-law excitedly asked my husband and I if we wanted to sign up, as that was the last day to do so. I am always up for a race, and somehow managed to talk my race-averse spouse into joining me...clickety-click and a credit card number later, we were all set to run the 5 mile race.

The course for this annual race traditionally starts and finishes in downtown Columbus, NE, and makes a trip over the only hill in town, the Viaduct bridge over the train tracks, along the way. However, the Viaduct has been shut for repair for about a year, so they had to alter the course for 2009. The result? A fabulous, flat, tree-lined and shady route around Pawnee Park and Wagner/Spires Lakes. Oh yes, this race had all the makings of a faster race pace for me: flat? Check. Shady? Check. Elevation below 5,000 feet? Checkedy-check.

Though well organized (Our race numbers were folded, 4 safety pins handily included, a sheet of race-day instructions, and a coupon for a free Big Mac placed inside of individually-marked envelopes at packet pickup. How considerate! Although the inclusion of the Big Mac belies the relative unimportance of healthy living in this community...) the race was a little more throwback old school and casual than what I'm used to in Colorado. There were no timing chips, it wasn't an officially measured course, the route was loosely monitored by volunteers, and I have yet to find the full results posted anywhere....but, it all went off without a hitch.

That's me over on the left side, midway back, in the hot pink.
I always wanted to be famous.

I started out at a pretty good pace (8:09) and was FINALLY able to maintain it consistenly all the way through the race (8:20, 8:23, 8:25, 7:54, :20). I just kept telling myself it was a tempo run and therefore I was not allowed to slow down, I had to stay consistent. The utter flatness allowed this to actually happen. While I did miss the requisite uphill-downhill I am used to at the CO races, it was fun to continually pass a lot of people on the 1-3 miles. Mile 3 I was pretty much running by myself and then started to catch some of the people in the next wave in front of me and pass again during Mile 4. There was one guy I had seen way up ahead the whole race (he was wearing a red shirt, as was my hubby, so I initially thought it was him--he naturally took off and left me from the start--and was trying to see if I could catch up) and I was finally closing in on him. I kicked out the last mile strong and sprinted the last .5...and he was toast. But, alas, I never did catch that shirtless guy.

Passing people is fun. Especially because I so rarely get to do it.

American Tights, you're history. Red Guy, I'm coming for you.

Hey, I warned you Red Guy. (he's there, behind me, in the background)

The official finish.

Final clock time: 41.42 PR yay!
Final garmin time: 41:38
"Official" race distance: 5.0 miles
garmin race distance: 5.1 miles

No idea how many finishers or where I placed--there was a 2-mile and 5-mile race and total count was 939 for both races--will update if they ever post it. One thing worth noting is that the winner of the 5-mile race finished it in just over 25 minutes. Which, sadly, is still faster than my fastest-ever 5k race time.

Race Report: HRCA Independence Day 5K 2009

I haven't done a 5K since March, and I have been running well and training a lot since then, so I was really interested to see how I would do this time. In true Highlands Ranch fashion, the race course was pretty hilly. HOWEVER, since I have made it my mission to conquer these bitch hills in my hood, it was noticably easier this time around. My legs definitely felt stronger, as did my lungs. And of course, there was the fact that it was only 3 little baby miles, so you know, CAKE.

It was a clear, warm, sunny morning for the 8:30 start. After all the pre-6AM running I have been doing, 8:30 felt like such a luxury. A hot, sunny luxury, that is. But, I had fueled up with my trusty cinnamon raisin bread, took at Gu just to see if it would make any difference on a short run, and hit the porta-pots before we took off. I ran into a couple of my running buddies at the start line, so that was nice.

I had set the simple race goal of beating my last 5K time. HOWEVER, I had also furiously scanned last year's race results to see how fast the finshers were, particularly in my age division. I deduced that my secondary/secret goal was to try and hit 25:00 or an 8:30 pace. I knew it was probably do-able, but it would be a little new for me to, you know, actually run hard and race during a race. I seem to tend to lay-up and not run races as hard as I could, probably due to some obscure fear of not finishing at all, lest I get too tired or something. (which is ridiculous, because of course I would still finish, even if I had to walk the dang course...on second thought, it's probably more of a deep-seated fear that I will run so hard and fast that I will want to puke and then I will actually puke and all those other runners will think, "wow how disgusting, doesn't she know you have to TRAIN to race, you can't just meander off your couch or out of frickin yoga class and think you can be a runner, by god, what a disgrace...) Anyway, I felt that I would actually run this one hard, and actually get myself out of breath and be hands-on-knees panting by the end. Or something reasonably close to that, but maybe a little, you know, easier...like an 8:30 pace.

Lest you all be bored and stop reading before you get to the Grand Finale*, I will say that I came respectably close to my super-secret 25:00 goal with a respectable 26:29. A nice 1:20 faster than my last 5K time.

RACE STATS
26:29 (PR)
9 in my age division (woo hoo, I cracked the top 10!)
24 female (top 25!)
118 overall finisher out of 411 (not top quarter...but really close...and I chicked at guy at the uphill finish, so totally strong showing)


*While yes, it would appear that with a 26:29 time, my pace was a close-to-goal 8:33...I am sad to say it actually was not. My splits?
Mile 1-7:31 (woo-hoo!)
Mile 2-8:20 (ew, that hill hurt a little)
Mile 3-9:52 (oh shit, I'm feeling that 7:31 now...I better just, you know, walk that 20 yards up that big hill right there...uh oh, that's another hill just after the downhill, isn't it? and crap, the last half mile to the finish is all back uphill again isn't it? I better just slow down a tad now, so that I can make sure and run that last bit to the finish where all the many, many people are LINED UP to watch the parade that's starting at 9:00; thank God I'll at least be done before that thing starts...right? yes, right I will be, crap it's hot out here...would it be weird if I just took my shirt off now? ok so just run and get done and get your water, fool)

The good news is that the 7:31 and 8:20 miles didn't really hurt that much while I was doing them...and on a little flatter course, I think I could definitely sustain that faster pace. Must. Find. Flat. Course. Also, I don't have criticism on the shirt design this time...but only because they ran out and I didn't get mine yet. I'll be sure to post when I get it, though, if it's as expectedly hideous as the others.

Race Report: Colorado Cofax Half Marathon

Me and hubs post-race. Wow, race hair is sex-ay...

For the first time, I really had a solid race plan. I put forethought into what I wanted to do and how I wanted to race, rather than just going out and running it and seeing what happened. My plan for the race was to run a steady, consistent pace. Since I seem to have a bad habit of going out faster than I want, and then getting tired in the middle, I really wanted to focus on not doing that for this race. I'd start a bit slower than my goal pace for the first couple miles, then pick it up and keep it steady, and then pick it up a little bit again after the halfway point. I made sure to drink plenty of water all week, so unless I really felt I needed it, I decided I would skip the water stations until mile 7, and then would walk for about 10-15 seconds through the water stations in the second half. I had my Sharkies in case I wanted a couple of them at mile 10, as I'm used to on my long training runs.

For my first half marathon, the weather was perfect, the course was nice and flat, the crowd was good and I am happy to say that I was able to see my plan through. It's a beautiful thing when you are able to run the race that you want/plan to!

Mile 1 - 9:40
Marathoners and half marathoners started together for the first bit. It was fun to be in the middle of such a large pack...except for the major weaving around people. Just before the start of the race, hubs told me, "I think I'll just run with you the whole time instead of racing it." Ten seconds after getting past the starting gate, hubs was off like a bat outta hell! Darting and weaving through the crowd, he surged ahead and I knew he was gone for good and I was on my own. I didn't mind and was glad to be able to run my own race without feeling guilty knowing he could have run it faster. Plus, I was interested to see just how fast he'd finish--though a long-time runner, this was his first-ever race! I felt good, kept my pace, and enjoyed the lovely path through City Park.

Mile 2 - 9:17
Headed out onto Colfax, still feeling fine and doing a lot of darting and weaving, but the crowd started to spread out, so it was a little easier.

Mile 3 - 9:20
Still a pretty good crowd, I picked a guy ahead of me that seemed to be running the same pace, and figured that I'd use him as my pacer...until he stopped at the first water station, which I skipped. So, I just kept going on my own.

Mile 4 - 9:20
Crowd started to thin some more, but I really wasn't getting passed much. A couple people here or there, but most everybody was keeping pace, or I was gradually passing them.

Mile 5 - 9:16
Heard someone cheer for me; it really does make you feel good to hear your name called, even if it is just a kind stranger reading your bib!

Mile 6 - 9:27
Lady in a wheelchair yelling at all the racers, "You think that's hard? Try this! Keep running fools! You can do it!" Ok maybe she didn't call us fools, but I bet she was thinking it. Made me laugh, but also made me thankful to have the strong, healthy body that allows me to run and race. Mission accomplished.

Mile 7 - 9:43
Next to the Fitzsimmons Hospital campus, we made the turn to head back. Some awesome high school girls were out dancing and cheering for everyone at the turn, which was a nice pick-me-up. I think I paused to thighten my shoelaces somewhere during this mile, as I felt a blister coming on as my right foot was sliding around.

Mile 8 - 9:08
Just running steady; had some gatorade and water at the station.

Mile 9 - 9:27
Don't remember this mile; it went by quick and I was just keeping my pace and a little zoned out, I guess.

Mile 10 - 9:25
Still felt good, was keeping my pace and thinking, "Wow, I only have a 5K left!"

Mile 11 - 10:31
This was my longest aid station break; had 3 Sharkies chews here, then followed with water to rinse them down. Walked a little at this point as I have discovered I tend to gag if I keep running while trying to chew the Sharkies. Still felt good and didn't have a problem starting up again. Hubs told me how he got his first drink at this aid station, and didn't realize there was both gatorade and water...and dumped lemon-lime gatorade on his face, thinking it was water.

Mile 12 - 9:34
This was a really beautiful area of gorgeaus old brick tudors and lush lawns and I was just enjoying looking around and thinking how I would love to live in this area. There were more spectators here as lots of folks came out in their yards and were cheering or handing out water bottles.Hubs later told me how he dumped one of the bottles over his head here and immediately regretted it when all the salty sweat went into his eyes.

Mile 13-9:39 .1 - 7:19
My favorite song for keeping a good pace came on, so it helped me keep going strong. I think I listened to it three times in a row, all the way through the finish line!

The spectators started to increase and I knew my parents and the shorties would be there somewhere, so kept myself busy looking for them. Kept seeing ladies that looked just like my mom and getting excited...only to find it wasn't them. Finally saw my parents and the Shorties smiling faces in the last tenth of a mile, and made my way over for a couple of high fives. Was great to see them, especially since I was feeling good and felt the race had gone great! Picked it up through the finish to about a 7:19 pace. Still felt good (despite the lady that finished just before me throwing up right after she crossed the mats in front of me...blech) and looked over and found hubs at the finish. My first half marathon: success!

RACE STATS
Time: 2:07:08
Overall place: 1023 out of 2294
Division place: 197 out of 513
Gender place: 486 out of 1448

Hubs finished in 1:45:10, which I think was awesome for his first race, and especially for only signing up to run it to give me moral support. Overall, I felt great and ran well, but I think I probably didn't run as fast as I could/should have, based on the fact that I really didn't feel tired afterward...and felt great all day afterward. Now that I know I can do 13.1, I'm ready to set some more challenging time goals for my next half! And on to the full marathon!!!