Race Recap! Women's Half Marathon

Where to begin??

If you've been with me since this summer, you knew that this race was to be my "redemption race" from my crappy performance at last year's PF Chang's Half Marathon.

I felt confident in my training but knew things can always go awry on race day, so I was scared. Like, really scared.

I woke up at 5am, cursed the early morning, and started getting ready. I've been watching the Biggest Loser this season and have a slight (major) crush on the new trainer Dolvett.

Hello, gorgeous.

So I decided to write his catchphrase on my arm for an extra boost:

No, I didn't consume a Dos Equis before the race.

I managed to drag Tom out of bed, take my picture, and we were off.

Hi puppies! And hello pear shaped body. :P

Let me tell you, it is soooooooooo nice to have someone drop you off at the race as opposed to driving yourself or taking the shuttle. Thanks, Tom!! :)

Having only run Rock & Roll series Half Marathons before, I really liked that this was a smaller race. Comparison: 30-something corrals at the PF Chang's race, five corrals at this race.

I didn't have to wait long before we were off. My plan was to run to the first mile and a half and then work in my intervals. (.25 walk, .75 run)
Mile 1: 12:20
Mile 2: 12:47
Mile 3: 13:10
Mile 4: 13:21

I was feeling goooood the first four miles. I didn't start my intervals until mile 3 and was happy that the first two miles gave me some cushion time wise. I was supposed to see Tom at mile 3, but he didn't make it in time.

Mile 4: 13:21
Mile 5: 13:12
Mile 6: 12:31
Mile 7: 12:52
Mile 8: 13:24

What the heck was I doing mile 6 & 7? Flying (for me), evidently. I believe mile 6 had a downhill portion & I remember thinking "oh hell yes" and just took off. Definitely helped my time! Up until mile 8, I was feeling really good and knew I had the sub 3 as long as I didn't bonk the last few miles.

Mile 9: 13:40
Mile 10: 14:14
Mile 11: 13:34
Mile 12: 14:26

Ok, here's where it started to get tough. (obviously) Here's my only (two) complaints about the race: the course starting at mile 8. Once you got to mile 8, you were passing runners that were on mile 11. (it was a loop portion) It was inspiring to see them running towards the finish, but also a little disheartening because you knew you weren't quite there yet.

I wouldn't be lying if I said the thought crossed my head to just hop over with those runners.

And then the hills. The. Hills. They weren't major, but for God's sake. Who puts hills in the last miles of a race?! You can see on mile 10 where I was not having it. And mile 12. I tried chanting "Hard Work. Dedication." and it helped for oh, 15 seconds. And then I let out a string of expletives.

Tom catching me at mile 10. I'm making a gun motion towards my head.

Mile 13: 14:06

I could have given more in mile 12 and 13, but I was pretty toast at this point. And I knew I had my sub 3 regardless. Tom caught up with me again at the end of mile 12 and was worried because he saw the time clock which said four minutes until 3 hours. "You only have 4 minutes!! Go!!!" I told him I didn't start quite at 7am, so I was ok. But it was cute he was so concerned. :)

Running towards (my) victory.

I was SO toast crossing that finish line. I gave it pretty much everything I had out there and was so, so excited that I met my goal. Ya'll, that's a 9 minute PR from my first half marathon and a 14 minute PR from the disastrous half last year!!

Bib	FName	LName	State	Age	Sex	ChipTime	Overall	SexPl	DivPl
5302	MELISSA	MCMULLIN	AZ	29	F	2:54:49	2736	2684	353

So, I'm still riding high today. I'm sore (because I'm a doofus and didn't stretch properly afterwards) but it's just a reminder of what I did yesterday. So I'll take it. :)

Oh, but: just to swell my head back down to normal size, I shut my thumb in the door later that night. I'm an idiot.

I told Tom he's doing the next one with me.

Big honkin' medal and post race tradition: Mexican food & Dos Equis.

Thank you, THANK YOU for all your support and kind words. <3 <3 <3