WAHOOOOOO!!! I am officially on cloud 9 right now. We are actually in route home from the Ogden Half Marathon and so I am using Ty's computer to get my blog posted before getting home and getting into the normal husstle and bustle that Saturday brings. Let me just say that today was seriously the funnest, most organized, "feel good" 1/2 marathon I have ever done, HOORAY!!! I am not sure if it was due to eating ice cream with Kelli last night (which she claims in her normal pre-race ritual that I am considering taking on as my own ritual as well:)), or just that I was ready to get out and run some long miles, but it was AWESOME!! And, the first time that I have not been nervous before a race. I think it was because I had no expectations of myself today. I just wanted to get out and run with what felt good and luckily, I felt good the whole time so I was able to PR. I have to say that I was very impressed with how well this race was organized and put together. I would like to consider it as one that I will try to run consecutively in years to come.
We came up last night and met up with Scott and Kelli, Heidi W and her hubby Jeron, and Sue (see Sue Run) and her husband Jared for dinner (Fun, and very yummy food). Then it was off to get ice cream with Kelli and Scott (even though our husbands didn't eat any, what the heck?!?), then back to the hotel to get some rest. What a fun date night before a race (maybe that is the second pre-race ritual I will have to start). We woke up 4:00 and drove down to the race with Dustin, Wild Bill and James, what a fun group of guys. Tyler has enjoyed getting to know them. Then we headed up the canyon to the start line. I was nervous because I couldn't find Heidi, but I found her and was able to start with her. We ran the first 4 miles together and then I let the down hill take me away so we parted ways a bit. From that point on, I just took each mile as it came and pushed things when I felt I could but tried to reserve some energy because I knew the last 3 miles were flat and that they would potentially be very hot. I pushed the last 1/2 mile pretty hard and finished at 1:38:57. My goal was to break 1:40, so all in all, I was very proud of myself. What a FUN race!! Heidi came in at 1:44 which is incredible to me considering this was only her 2nd half marathon ever, WOW!!! Tyler came in at 1:19:12, which placed him 1st in his age group and 5th overall, WHAT THE HECK??? WOW!!! Seriously, a fun race, fun group of people to be there watching and supporting. Just a fun morning (can you sense the enthusiasm?). I am considering bagging full marathons and just focusing on 1/2's for a while. Not really, just a fun morning that made me realize why I run in the first place, how fortunate I feel to be able to run and just how much I love it!!
Splits: 7:59, 7:59, 7:50, 7:48, 7:15, 7:26, 7:26, 7:23, 7:12, 6:58 (FIRST TIME IN HISTORY I HAVE GOTTEN IN THE 6 MINUTE MILE RANGE, HOOOORAH!! A small celebration took place due to this in the finish area :)), 7:19, 7:26, 7:23, 6:38 (last .2 miles).
Enough said, I am signing off~ | 