Commit to Your Goal: Rise and Shine Half Marathon

Today was the day. The day I have been training for for the past few months! I was ready to do this, ready to beat my time from last year, ready to be a better runner, ready to show me that I was better than...well, me! The morning was cool, but not terrible. I made sure to stretch really good and even participated in the warm-up that the race members offered.

Last year, 2015 I ran this race and it took me 2:32:18 with a pace of 11:37. I walked for the first time at 8.36 miles and then a gain at 10.10 miles. I was really tired during the 11.5 to 13.28 mile marks. It really bothered me that the race was longer than it should have been! However, based on previous performances I did run faster and kept a decent pace. I faltered in the last 2 miles where I sort of gave up. I really needed that 12 mile run. You can view my splits and my route here. My splits were pretty good, my first 3 miles were in 29:47, right on track for me. I didn't run slower than in the 10 minutes until mile 6, in the 12 minutes by mile 9, and in the 13 minutes mile 12 and 13.

This year, 2016 I was nervous. I only did 11 miles on a long run and still had to do that 2.1 (or 2.3) mile run after that. I ran 13.21 miles in 2:08:49 with a pace of 9:45!! You can view my splits and my route here. It is the same route :) WOW, my first 3 miles were in 26:04 and all in the 8 minutes zone. Miles 4 through 8 were in the 9 minutes zone, miles 9-11 were in the 10 minute zone, mile 12 ONLY was 11:20, then for mile 13 I dropped back down to the 10 minute zone! While I was running I began to realize that my 2:30:00 goal would definitely be beat, and the longer I ran I realized that my 2:15:00 (secondary goal) was very much attainable.

My 11 mile run last year was 2 hours and 2 minutes, my 11 mile practice run this year was 1:54:32, my 11 mile run during the race was 1:44:45! It was then that I knew even if I walked the last 2.21 miles that I WOULD beat my 2:15:00 goal! The next question was, by how much? I really lost speed in mile 12, but I reminded myself that I did not walk until I was at 10.20 miles. That was my longest consistent, no walk, run ever! I could do this! I gathered myself come mile 13 and pushed as hard as I thought I could. I finished the race in 2:08:50 (official time) and came in 8th in my age group, 42 in female runners, and 99th overall! To say i am proud would be an understatement. It made me realize that running this under 2 hours is actually doable for me! And will be my goal next year. I beat that girl from last year (ME) by 23:28...WOW...I am still amazed at myself! Here I am after I got both of my medals, one from the race and one homemade from the children of the Arc :). Here I am below during the beginning of the race and then about mid-way.