Goal Accomplished!

The Half Marathon is finally over!!!! Although I have been looking forward to this day for a while, I will miss training. I liked those runs now that I look back at it. But it won't be long before I am on the schedule again for yet another half in September!!

The course was HARD. At times I really thought I was not going to make it. I was struggling, but I just looked inside myself and made it. I did walk a few times, but those hills were KILLER!  I was told it was a rough course, but I just had to see for myself. Most of the course was rolling hills that actually weren't that bad in retrospect. Then we had giant hills that seemed to last forever. I made it to about 10.5 miles and then I started to walk, for small amounts of time only.

The gatorade and water stands were the only thing that made me get through. I really looked forward to giving myself more energy by drinking the gatorade. It was nice.

Now for my time: It was 2:03! YAY for me! On my first half my time was 2:18 with an average pace of 10:34/mile. This time, my pace was 9:24 per mile. That is over a minute improvement since my last race. I am SOOOOO proud of myself. I cried when I finished because I could not believe I actually did it. I look forward to my ultimate goal of getting under 2 hours for my next race!

Dan did okay. He is upset with himself, but I still think he did a good job. The hills were apparently worse on the marathon course. He struggled in the last 5 miles. He didn't get the time he wanted, but it was still a really good time. He finished in 3:38 for the full. I could never run a full in that speed/time so I think he did great. But we look forward to our next race and hope to improve our times!

I'm not sure what I will do with myself now that I am not training. I know that I am going to go to the gym and do more weight strengthening to try and lose a few more pounds (like 10-15) and then we will start running again. I can't wait!