3m half marathon done!

This morning I ran my second half marathon! I woke up at 3 am (my alarm was set for close to 5, so I was annoyed). I woke up so early because my stomach was bothering me. Most of you know all about my stomach and the annoying things it does to me. Most of you probably don't know that when I get nervous (like I was this morning) I start having stomach issues. It was pretty bad this morning. I'm not sure why I was so nervous today since I had done a half before, but I was. After taking my medicine, and trying to eat a bagel dad drove me up to the start of the race and then headed back home to get mom. The weather at the start was amazing! No wind, 35 degrees, and no humidity. Thank you weather gods!

The first few miles weren't too bad. I was trying to get into my groove, ignore my stomach, and not go too fast out of the starting line. I actually didn't sprint at the beginning which is unlike me at races, but good since I was running so far. I ran the farthest I've ever done without stopping to walk from mile 2-6. 4 miles! Another milestone among many in my life as a runner. Around mile 6 I started walking at the water stop so I could drink and take some sport beans. The second I started walking my right knee had a shooting pain in it. Awesome. I started running again hoping to lose the pain and it took me about a mile to get the pain away. It was pretty rough, I almost started crying while I limped/ran. 

At mile 8 mom and dad were there (in full length coats, I guess it was colder than I had thought). I slowed down so dad could take some pictures, threw my gloves at my mom and kept on going. 

Something I love at races, especially these long ones, are the awesome people that come out to support us. Every few miles there were people playing music and instruments to entertain us. The best was 2 different guys miles apart playing acordians, 2 old mariachi men, and a guy that kept jumping on his bike and riding further down the course every few miles.

Every time from mile 6 on, when I stopped to get water and walk, my knee would kill me. I was averaging a 10:30-11:00 mile pace until about mile 8 where I was slowing down from fatigue, and from my knee. Even with that I never had a mile slower than 12 minutes. 

At mile 12 I was starting to lose it. That's when "One Tribe" came on. I was throwing my fists around and singing out loud. The people around me probably thought I was nuts. And THEN this came on...

When it started I literally stopped for a few beats, and when it really got going I started having a dance party all by myself in the street. It also including some dance running, dance skipping, and lots of hand gestures. The best part about it? There was a photographer right there and I'm pretty sure he got pictures of it. At least I'm hoping he did! If so I will make sure to post them here whenever the pictures come out.

As the end got closer I sped up. I was nearly sprinting (or sprinting as much as my tired legs could handle) to the finish line. Mom and dad were even able to get a spot on the sides and take pictures of me running in. 

I love this one because it looks like I'm flying.

I finished in 2:28:42! WHAT?! That is crazy! That is 15:12 faster than my half last February! Holy cow! I still can't believe I was 15 minutes faster. I placed 338 in my age group, and 3927 overall. When I was taking my finishers picture I saw Larry, Kim and Brandon (all way faster than me) and we took some pictures. 

After finding my parents we went to breakfast at Maudie's like we always do, and then I went home and took an ice bath for my poor knees. As I'm posting this I'm still sore and walk like an old lady. But it was totally worth it! I ran another half, beat my time, and had a dance party in the middle of the street. Who could ask for more? Let's just hope my body is ready for the Color Run, a 5k, this Saturday!