This is the 1/2 field, seems small to me. Was 944 runners, walkers, and stroller pushers in all.
Me before the start...was a little nervous here!
This is the first mile, and you can see my pacer in the blue shirt and yellow hat. I made an effort to smile and look like I'm having as much fun as I'm having. I'm notorious for looking pissed off while running even when I'm having a good time. So, I really wanted to look like I'm having fun since I had my own personal photographer there. :)
This pic is for my sister...look at the swish in the skirt! So fun! It's shows up better on the SmugMug site. Thankfully there are full short under the skirt, because a few of the pics there is more swish than I thought!
This is the last really happy pic of me. This was the last spot Mark could get to me before I hit the dreaded part of the course.
This is my pacer/pace group...notice I'm no where near? I was long gone by this point...they were all nice ladies though, fun to run with when I did run with them.
This is probably around 12.5...the smile is a lot more tentative and I have frown lines on my forehead. My legs were screaming at this point...this is right when Mark said "You've got this." Was just what I needed. (My shirt looks so stupid tied like that, but the rules said the bib had to be on the front, and rather than re-pin it while running I just tied my shirt on backwards.)
After Jodi got me up the hill she hopped into her car and headed for the finish to say Hi again.
My first race medal! I love that they give you half of it for finishing the 1/2. Clever.
The question that has been popping up is will you do it again? Yes...I would like to do a 1/2 again. I learned a lot and feel like the next one would be easier.
There are some things to work out though. I need to be evaluated and fitted for shoes, I'm going to work with a running coach for a session or two to go over my ergonomics while running. I know there are things I can do better to help my body out and not hurt as much. I want to get to a point that running 10 miles at a time is not a big deal and running 15 to 20 miles a week is not a big deal and doesn't keep me from my fitness class.
I think my next 1/2 could very well be a trail run. I really want to do a trail 1/2 and there are a few good ones around here. I would do another road race if it's the right one though.
I'm also pretty much done running the waterfront for races though. Especially the part that is from Pacific Ave down to Ruston Way and back again. It's stupid I know because it's totally flat and should be supper easy, but no matter how long or short the distance mentally I just can't embrace it. It feels like it just goes on and on and on and sucks my will to run right out of me. I loved the winding through downtown, up and down hills, through the park and Stadium district, but give me never ending flat and I just don't deal well.
I also don't know if I would do another one alone. One thing I really learned today is that I crave that someone to distract me and encourage me when it gets difficult. It's not that I can't do, sometimes I have hard time wanting to keep doing it, and having someone say we can do this or you can do this helps every time.
I have a few weeks of rest ahead of me, then need to get some hill training in so I don't hate running Sound To Narrows in June. That's probably going to be a slow and steady race for me. Lot's of hills and not sure how much I really want to push it.
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