Shun the Sun

Last weekend, I ran my second half marathon for the year. It's amazing how your body can actually LIKE running for that long. My first one was just about getting through, but this one was about enjoying the run and I totally did.

I talked 3 of my great girlfriends (Rickie, Casey and Meredith) into running it with me, which always makes things more fun. I loved having Rickie to run with every Saturday and to check in with Mer and Casey and see how their distance was coming.

I highly advise a running buddy for long runs. Even if you're different paces, it makes such a difference to know someone is out there with you. One miserable Saturday, Rickie and I could only schedule our run for 5 at night. I think it was somewhere in the 90s that week and I was DYING. I never would have made it through without someone routing me on.

The night before we had our big Carbo-Load Dinner and sat around talking about how nervous we were, what on earth were we going to wear (the weather dropped 20 degrees over the week leading up to the run), how to drink water from a cup, and what our goals were.

Meredith came and picked everyone up at 5:45 in the morning, but I had been up since about 4 just laying in bed. It was really cold that morning and I huddled in the corner with my legs and arms scrunched up inside my jacket until start time. Rickie and I paced ourselves pretty slow at the start because we wanted to make sure we had plenty of juice left at the end. Looking back, we probably paced too slow since I never hit a wall and had plenty of energy left at the end. I lost Rickie after about 4 miles, but I after a few miles I found a girl that was just not going to let me pass her. We'd take turns kind of edging each other out and finally I said, "Let's run together." She was lots of fun to talk to and got me through till about mile 11 when I was ready to take off.

My last two miles were fantastic, and even better was turning the corner by the stadium and seeing my family all waiting for me and cheering. I finished in 1:54 (about 8:45 minute miles). I was really happy with my time, but there is still a part of me wondering what my time would have been if I had gone just a little bit faster in the beginning. The other part of me is glad I didn't because I hurt my left hip pretty bad. It wasn't horrible when we finished, but as the night went on I could barely walk. I'm now seeing a chiropractor trying to get everything back to where it should be.
The best part of the race: seeing my kids right before the entrance to the stadium.

The race was really well organized, the weather was great and my girlfriends are the best. I enjoyed pretty much every second of doing it and can't wait to do it again. Half marathons are seriously the best distance. Not so long that you the training takes over your life, or you have to worry about electrolytes and refueling, but long enough that you get a huge runners high, ots of personal reflecton time and you feel like you accomplished something` Who's in for the next half??