My First Half Marathon



At the end, waving to my boys



After, not a great night's sleep, (Thing 3 was up every 2 hours), we left the house about 6:45am.  The boys were excited to be out when it was still dark outside.

We arrived at the race site about 7:35, where I promptly left the boys in the car because I had to potty, pick up my race packet, and it was 28 degrees outside, so they stayed in the car.

When I returned to the car I attached my chip to my shoe and nursed Thing 3 one more time.

Then it was time to head to the start line, after one more pit stop.  Too bad the lines were longer, luckily I made it to the start line just on time.
At 8:30am we were off.  I wanted to keep a steady pace, I wanted to make sure I finished.  However, I finished mile 1 in 10:23.  I started off a little fast, so I slowed down (Oops).  I'm just not a big fan of crowds, so I try to get away from them as fast as I can.

Honestly, I can't give you a play by play of each mile, cause I don't remember.  When I run I tend to get lost in my own thoughts.  The longer the run the less I pay attention to what mile I am at and what is happening at the time.  I just run.  

Here are my race splits.

Mile 1 10:23



Mile 2  10:42

Mile 3  10:48

Mile 4  11:11

Mile 5  11:07

Mile 6  11:12

Mile 7  11:17

Mile 8  11:13

Mile 9  11:21

Mile 10  11:07

Mile 11  11:14

Mile 12  11:20

Mile 13  11:12

.1  17seconds

I was happy to see all my boys at the finish line for my first half, especially since it was so cold.

We usually hang out after the race and hear the winners, but it was too cold for the boys, the 2 oldest were cranky and tired and thing 3 was hungry.  The kids win, so I don't have any pictures after the race.

I felt pretty good the whole race.  I probably could have pushed my pace a little more.  I think that if the race field was larger (this race was only 200 people) it would have made it easier for me to push the pace.  Also, if I didn't have a cough, that probably would have helped.  Hopefully in March I can go a little faster.

I enjoyed my first half marathon.  I got my first finisher medal and not one, but two technical shirts (one short sleeved and one long sleeved.)

There were only two things I didn't like and they were both about the course.  The first is that there were a lot of u turns (at least 5).  You lose so much momentum and time making a u turn.  Secondly, I enjoy running on paved trails, but almost 13 miles of wooded trails can get boring at times.  I have done all of my long runs along streets, so there are cars and other things of interest to look at.

Overall, I am happy with my first half marathon and can't wait until the Dallas Rock N Roll Half on March 27.  Please consider donating to Marathon for the Cure if you haven't already.  I successfully completed my goal of running a half before Thing 3 turned 6 months old.  (he turns 5 months tomorrow)

I looked at the race results tonight and I got 4th in the Athena division (women over 150lbs).  My official time 2:24:42.  The girl who got third, he time was 2:24:15.  If I would have just run 30 seconds faster, I could have gotten 3rd.  (Arrg!)

My next race is Too Cold to Hold 15K on January 23.

Happy New Year!