Day 11: The amazing race!

Well it wasn't the amazing race but it was a race and it was amazing! Day 11 of my lonely housewife chronicles I finished my FIRST half marathon! It was so much fun! First off, I am not a runner. I think people want to assume that because you go run and do races you are a runner, not! I'm kinda slow and because I teach an indoor cycling class twice a week, I would prefer a bike over my legs but I still had a blast! My time was 2:20:51 (feel free to make whatever judgements you want) and I placed 50th  in my age division out of 107 and 208/400 overall so I did average, right in the middle of the group. Now that I have a time to go off of I can try and beat it and I have a better idea of what worked and what didn't. So saturday morning came....

I got up at 5:15am, showered, got ready and ate a bowl of rice with bananas and tried to take a picture of myself again since Collin wasn't there (sniff sniff). I actually slept real well that night, I took a hot bath the night before and crawled into bed by 10:30. I talked to Collin for about 15 minutes and then fell asleep. I only woke up once at 3:40 am since I had been drinking a lot of water the day before to make sure I was good and hydrated.

I kept a pretty good pace but at mile 5 to mile 10 it was uphill. Mile 5-7 was nothing but a pretty good hill and then after that it was kinda like a rollercoaster with some small hills but was constantly going up until mile 10 and then went down hill the rest of the way. The hill slowed me down a bit and here is what I think my biggest downfall was.... the water stations. I know during training that I could go up to mile 10 without water but because the stations have people there with water for you waiting for you to grab it, it was tempting not to (even though I knew I couldve done without) and it's kinda hard to drink while you run so you slow down. So next time, I think I'll pass on some of the stations to keep my pace up. It really was a breautiful run and it wasn't too sunny or hot, nice and cool with a small breeze. Mile 9 I noticed thats when my legs were getting pretty tired but my lungs were ok.

I finally crossed the finish line 4 minutes before 10am which was my goal once I realized I was running a bit slower. My sister Cassie and cousin Megan were there to greet me along with my good friends Hannah and her husband Brenton who Iv'e been hanging out a lot with since Collin left. I am SO grateful that they were! Even one of my co-workers Karlee was there as soon as I crossed the finish line! I was so worried that since Collin wasn't going to be there, I wouldn't have anyone waiting for me but it was awesome to see some familiar faces there cheering me on!

Megan and Cassie! I was SO SO SO happy that I could have some family there waiting for me! They brought there cameras and took tons of pics for me too which I really appreciated (as did Collin!)

Hannah and Brenton! These guys are awesome and great supporters! I dropped some stuff early at their place before I took off and brought it with them for me to the race!

 

After the race I found some friends/classmates that decided to do the half to that I had no idea about!

Heres me with some girls I took a nutrition class and an aerobique technique class with!

The race was awesome. During the run, I remember thinking, "I don't think I want to do this again" it was hard! But after crossing the finish line, it's so worth it. The energry and atmosphere of the whole event was incrediable and the first thing I did when I got home was look up any other half marathons going on nearby in the future (Mesa Falls is next!)

Something funny about this picture... I don't know anyone in the picture besides the girl right next to me in the white shirt.

Besides leaving with a finishers medal (don't get too excited, everyone who finishes gets one) I did come home with some rites of passage...a good sunburn and a nasty blister. Oh, I don't have a picture because its too painful to take off the bandage but two of my left toenails are bruised and falling off. Nice hu?

BUT my good friends Michaela and Spencer did stop by later and brought me this! A lemon blueberry cupcake and some balloons!!! It was very much appreciated!

So overall, it was great and I'm anxious to sign up for another one and try to get a better time! My legs really aren't that sore but my back and shoulders are killing me, weird.

Here's a pic of my dad! He did his first 1/2 marathon in California memorial day weekend! I'm not quite sure about a full marathon just yet but I really want to do a 1/2 with this guy!!!

Thanks everyone for all your phone calls, texts and FB comments!!! I feel very loved!