The Gilbert Half Marathon was so much fun! It felt so amazing to work so hard and see such a big payoff. I love running! People always laugh at me when I say that, but its true! There are so many times that I wonder why I love it so much when I'm in the middle of it.
I had really prepared well for this race. Usually there is something that comes up in the middle of training every time that throws me off. Not this time! Running with a big group and doing lots of speed work really helped me out. I was running consistently faster than I ever had before. It was very exciting!
We went down to the expo the night before the race. Thats always so fun for me!
The morning of the race was SOOO cold! The race didn't start until 7:30 so we knew it would get hot and fast but just sitting and waiting at the start were so cold. There was a monster line at the bathrooms so I wasn't able to go before the race. That had me worried but I was ready to get moving. I really wanted to get a PR in this race. That meant I just had to run an average of less than 10 minutes. I knew I could do that!
We started out and Wendy and I stuck together. We killed it the first 4 miles! At mile 4 the Williams Field girls basketball team was running a water stop. Lacee jumped out and gave me a big hug and cheered me on! I had no idea she would be there and it really pumped me up!
The we had a long stretch and the it was starting to get warmer, but we kept pushing it and were making amazing time. We turned off of Recker onto a trail that lead us through the riparian preserve and behind freestone park. Running through riparian was so fun! Then we ran through freestone park and that really took me back to my high school cross country days!
I was really starting to falter. Every mile felt slower and slower. I was just over 10 miles. Almost there! And then I saw 4 of the cutest faces cheering me on! Kyle and the girls were right at the edge of freestone park. Seeing them pumped me up again. But only for a little while. I was really getting tired and my legs didn't want to move! I knew I was going to be so close to breaking two hours and that was really the only thing that me kept going. Wendy caught up with me (she stopped to fill up her water bottle at a water stop) and I needed her. Then we jumped onto the parade route and were about a mile from the finish line! So close! We picked up that pace a little and crossed that finish line triumphant! Poor kyle didn't make it to see me cross. Its hard hauling all those little girls around and Juliet doesn't ever do anything fast. But I met them seconds after crossing. I got my metal!
I gave it my all and ended up with an official time of 2 hours and 53 seconds. So close to breaking one hour!! my First 4 miles were between 8:30 and 8:45 minute miles which is HUGE for me. And I set a new personal record by 11 minutes! It was seriously amazing. I felt like I could take on the world. Until the adrenaline wore off and I felt like I might die. We went to kneaders for breakfast and I could hardly get it down. My stomach was not happy with me. Then we ran home, got ready, packed and dropped the girls off so we could head to Sedona. It was awesome!
Starting line!
Finish line!
No comments:
Post a Comment