Pictures and Race Report

I finally got the race photos from my first half marathon! I don't have a scanner, so I had to be really ghetto and take a picture of the picture - so please forgive the fuzziness... and the overuse of parenthetical phrases.

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It's a bit late, but in light of the pictures, I thought I'd do a quick race recap. On September 15th, I ran the Scenic Half in Sandpoint, Idaho (my first...awwww). Sandpoint is about an 80-90 mile drive, so my original plan was to get up at 4:30, but for some reason I woke up in the middle of the night and thought, "I don't really need to get up until 5:30." I didn't think about the fact that I had to pick up my sister first, adding about 30 minutes to travel time. Long story short, packet pickup was open until 8:00 and I parked the car at 7:55 and had to run about a third of a mile to the pickup spot. Luckily I wasn't the only one running late and they were still there. Of course, then I had to run back to the car to get my stuff. By the time I had my stuff and used the porta-potty (after a 10 minute wait), I got to the start line exactly two minutes before the gun went off. Whew! Fortunately, all of the worry about making it on time meant I didn't have time to be worried about the race. I was just happy to get going, so I cranked up my tunes and took off with a smile.

Mile 3 and still thinking everything is peachy.

The course was a ten mile out-and-back that then looped back to the 5k course. The first three miles were great. Pretty scenery along Lake Pend Orielle and then across the mile long bridge. Mid way into mile three was when the hills started. Good grief! I just kept thinking that I would get to run back down all of these hills. This is also about the time that it started to get warmer and I was going through my water faster than usual. 

Mile 11 and about to die...but I'm passing someone!

I was so happy to see the turn around! I was crazy-thirsty (not a problem I usually have) and about mile 7, I realized I only had about four ounces of water left. I hated to do it, but I decided to stop for a quick walk break. I ended up walking for about 30 seconds every mile until mile 11. I'm pretty sure it was 90 million degrees and I hadn't had water in 3 weeks (dramatic much?). At mile 11, I started to do four minutes of running to one minute of walking. Miles 11-12.75 were the longest of my life. I demand a re-measure of the 5k course because I'm pretty sure it was about 20 miles long. I was so happy to see that last stretch. It was gorgeous - crossing a little bridge and leading onto the City Beach park.

Finishing kick!!! AKA: I see water!

I had originally thought about what I should do for the finish line photo - the classic fist raised in triumph, just a big smile, etc. Yeah, by the time I got there, I didn't even care about the finish, I was just headed for the water table. Overall, I was hoping to average about 12:00/mile (I know, I'm a real speed demon) because that's what I completed my last 12 mile distance run at (with no walk breaks, thank you very much). My finish time was 2:49:40 which is just under 13:00/mile. While it's not what I was hoping for, I'm happy with that. I truly gave everything I had and with the hills (most of my training was on the treadmill) and the heat (again - treadmill...with fan), I think it went pretty well.

The race itself was awesome. The course was beautiful. With about 200-ish people running the half and about 600 people overall, the size was perfect. There was great course support with water stations at miles 1, 5, 8, and 11. There was an awesome MC playing music and providing commentary, including calling out everyone's name as they crossed the finish line. I will definitely be doing this again next year. I can't wait to do another one. I'm dying to do one by Silverwood theme park that is this weekend (it goes through the park that is decorated for Halloween), but alas - money is tight and I'm not really ready to part with my spare kidney. Maybe next year.

What is the last race you did?









Awesomeness!

So I woke up this morning feeling cranky. It was cold, I was tired, and I didn't really fancy going outside and running in the cold. But I splurged on the entry fee, so I couldn't very well skip it...sigh...so I went. And it was AWESOME!!!

The first few minutes, I was honestly thinking "why did I pay money to run in the cold (36 degrees)?" But then I warmed up and was able to enjoy the scenery and the feeling of my body being warmed by exercise and my face chilly from wind. My heart rate monitor is on the fritz, so I wasn't wearing a watch and just decided to cruise at whatever pace felt good. There were a few times where I felt like I could go faster, but I reminded myself that this was supposed to be an easy run and to just relax.

The course itself was pretty, but not very well marked. The road markings were in pink (for the "Paint it Pink" run), but after the 10k split off of the running path to side roads, there weren't any more pink arrows. I know I didn't take a wrong turn because they had someone standing there to make sure you turned the right direction. So I just followed the old orange markings that were there from a previous race. I caught up to someone else all dressed in pink, so I feel pretty confident that I took the right route. The final stretch was a long slow downhill that crosses two bridges over the river and has an amazing view of the mountains. This was the point where my legs felt strong, my body felt warm and the cold blast of air as cars past made my face delightfully chilly. I think endorphins may have kicked in here as well.

Only the first mile was marked for distance, which I thought was really weird. Why only mark one mile? It worked out really well that my fella decided to take the dogs to the park to run around for a bit while he was waiting. This happened to be part of the course, so he waited with the pooches to cheer me on. As I came around the corner, I thought "what a big dog...wait, that's my big dog...and my man!" So that was an awesome surprise.

Afterwards, I had no idea what my time was, so I asked the gal that was recording times and found out that I had beaten my previous PR by a full minute without even trying! That felt pretty stinkin' awesome. My last 10k was in June and I trained specifically for it, so it feels great to know that my training for longer distances is helping out in shorter races too.

When we were done, Cody asked what I wanted to do and I told him I wanted a hot shower, pajamas, and a good movie. I was still grinning from ear to ear and thinking that this morning was a perfect snapshot of why I love running. I started out cranky, had an amazing run, and now I can have a wonderfully lazy day because I'm relaxed and happy.