Aquarium Run Half Marathon

Going into this race I was more excited to run than I have been all season. I had finally let go of all hopes of running a PR and was ready to go out and just enjoy the race. My mom had signed Carter up for the One Mile Fun Run and he was so excited. When I showed him his race packet and we dumped it all out to look through it, he just kept smiling. He loved that his bib had a sea turtle on it and was thrilled about the shirt. He wanted to wear it for the race but was worried it would get too sweaty so I told him if it got too sweaty, I'd wash it for him so he could wear it some more. Before bed that night I told him what the temperature was supposed to be at race time and I told him what type of clothing he would most likely want to wear for the race. We set his clothes out so he would be ready and he made sure he had some PJ Mask underwear to wear, priorities here! The excitement continued that morning when he woke us up bright and early before our alarms, super excited that his Oma and Opa had arrived while he was sleeping. He was so excited to see the shark stocking cap Opa was wearing for the race and the fish stocking cap Oma would be wearing. We left the house around 7:25 for the 8:00 start, one of the huge perks of running a race close to home. Also a perk of running a race where I don't need to do a warm up. We arrived and went straight for the inflatables which Carter could not stop talking about. I intended to hit the porta potties up before the race but the lines were insane so I ran over to a different area and ended up with a little quarter-mile warm up before the race.

 

The half-marathon started at 8:00, the 10k which Jeremy was running started at 8:10, the 5k which dad and Thomas were running was at 8:20, and the fun run was at 8:30. Mom was doing the fun run with Carter and I really wished it was before my race so I could see them and/or run part of it with them. Ty ended up not running so he planned to watch everyone's race start and then drive with Elise to the half-way point of the half-marathon to cheer for me. As I headed over to the race start I spotted one of the guys on our race team and chatted with him a little bit before we lined up at the start. I looked around for a couple of women who I know normally run the race and typically go 1-2. I didn't see them at first but then finally noticed them both more to the left-hand side of the starting line. When I saw them over there I realized we would be taking a left turn pretty early in the race so it would probably be best to be over to the left as well. I knew Ty was over on the right side of the course to cheer for me but I went ahead and headed over to the left side of the start line. They announced the race would be starting a few minutes late and then we were off. I was feeling really good and got excited that I couldn't feel anything off with my left shin. Within the first mile of the race I had passed quite a few people and had moved into 3rd overall female. I was running a pace that felt really good and was surprised to go through the first mile in 6:51. I figured I was either going to run faster than I had expected or I would have a rough second half of the race. We turned into the wind for the next mile which I went through in 7:08. That was more the pace I had been expecting to run so I figured that first mile I just went out a little fast out of excitement. I did a great job of not really looking at my watch between miles which I can be bad about at times.

Ty took some fun pictures before the race started.

Start picture from the race's facebook page.

We went through mile 3 right before we headed out onto Riverside. The wind was really strong as we crossed over the bridge and as I went to pass a guy he made a comment about the wind. We started chatting a little bit and I decided to stick with him instead of heading on at the pace I had been running. It's a good thing I did because I'd gone through the 3rd mile in 6:51 pace which was too fast for so early in the race. As we ran along we talked about our favorite running weather, our race teams, and other random tidbits. He told me the guys on his team had made a bet that whoever out of them finished last had to wear a dress during the triathlon they were all training for so he just needed to stay ahead of his teammates which made me laugh. I didn't realize we had slowed while chatting until we went through mile 4 in 7:13. I decided I should probably stop talking quite so much, so we would go for stretches where we didn't really talk for a while but it was nice to have him there to run with. My biggest concern about running this race was that I would have to run by myself the whole way. We went through mile 5 in 7:04 and then moved from the road onto the trail. We followed the people we could see a ways ahead of us and were running on the side of the trail for bikes. As we approached Helmerich park a little bit before the 6 mile mark I got so excited when I saw Ty and Elise ready to cheer for us. I hadn't been expecting to see them until the half-way point so it was a very exciting surprise for me. I yelled and waved to them very happily. Elise didn't really react to seeing me which made me giggle. We went through mile 6 in 7:06 so we were running pretty consistently there. I could see the water stop ahead so I pulled out my Gu and started eating it. We realized we were running on the wrong path as the water stop was set up on the pedestrian side of the trail so we switched over which meant we had to run in the grass. It felt weird on my legs switching from pavement to grass and then back. When we hit a water stop at around 6.5 miles I grabbed a water and my running buddy didn't which caused him to pull away from me a little bit. Then we went up one of only maybe 3 little hills on the course and he pulled further away. I had planned to catch back up to him but he had also apparently decided to take off. He yelled something back to me as he went, but I didn't catch what it was.  For a while I had trouble tasting the Gu like it was going to come back up which I've never really experienced before but it stayed down.

Once I lost my running buddy I had a hard time maintaining the pace we had been running. What had felt so effortless before was suddenly much harder when I was alone. Mile 7 was 7:14 and I told myself to just keep hitting around 7:15 for the rest of the race. Around that time I started seeing the first runners come back toward me so I knew we were approaching the turn around which got me excited to see Ty and Elise again. Once everyone was coming back by I was able to confirm that I was, in fact, 3rd overall female. As I neared the turn around I saw Ty and Elise standing just a little past the cone so I ran over to high five Elise. She got confused so I stopped for a second. I had a hard time picking pace back up after stopping but it was worth it to see my sweeties. The workers at that water stop were the most energetic and enthusiastic. They commented on how much they liked my socks and said they were super cute. I smiled but I was hating my socks just a little bit at that point. I had run multiple long runs in my compression socks to make sure they wouldn't cause blisters since they are the cheap thin ones. I had no trouble with them until my 9 mile run last weekend when they gave me a big blister on my left foot which extended up between my big toe and second toe even. I was hopeful that if I used lotion on my feet that wouldn't happen again. I really wanted to wear them because I was worried about my shin and thought they may help. About 6 miles into the race I could feel a new blister forming and by the turn around it was a bit unpleasant. Nothing compared to my blister from Prairie Fire a few years ago, but enough to notice.

After the turn around I got to see all the runners still heading out. It was nice to see them and to cheer for each other. It was especially nice after a couple miles of running alone. I saw the 4th and 5th females running together and saw I had a pretty big lead. Toward the end of the race I started thinking I could walk and they still wouldn't catch me but I tried to push as much as I could anyway. The 8th mile mark was right after the turn around and I went through it in 7:20. I was a little disappointed I was so much over 7:15 pace but figured that was partially due to stopping for high fives at the turn around. My goal for the remainder of the race was to stay as close to 7:15 pace as I could. I knew 7:15 pace was what I averaged at the Route 66 Half after Elise was born and I wanted to make sure I at least beat that time. I kept telling myself, just 5 miles to go! Right around mile 9 I got a song stuck in my head from the Winnie the Pooh soundtrack the kids and I were listening to the day before. It wasn't any of the lyrics just the background music and I sang it over and over in my head. Later when I looked at the case, I realized the song was called "Rumbly in my Tumbly," which was kind of funny considering. I went through that mile in 7:17 and again mile 10 was 7:17. I told myself just a 5k to go and I felt like that gave me a little more pep in my step. Mile 11 was 7:18 and I was pretty excited that I just had 2 miles to go. Around 11.5 miles I made it to where the 10k turn around was and started passing a few 10k runners here and there. Not too many and none of them were in the way until I made it to a group of 4 women walking while blocking the entire way. I yelled out, "On your right," because I really didn't want to step down into the grass to pass them. I felt bad because I scared one of the women, but she then cheered for me so she recovered quickly. I was struggling a little bit and started checking my watch more telling myself, just 2 miles left, that means just over 15 minutes to go. I'd tell myself, you can do anything for 15 minutes which then made me go off on a tangent thinking about the show, Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt, because she says you can do anything for 10 seconds. Then it was just 1.5 miles left. I told myself I'd start picking up the pace with 1.5 miles left but I wasn't feeling great and didn't want to kick too early so I decided to wait. As I neared the 12 mile mark I started getting really excited because I knew we were approaching the bridge and this section of the race was what I've been envisioning over and over in my mind ever since signing up for the race. I went through mile 12 in 7:29 and really started picking it up. I knew the bridge was about 4/10 of a mile long. When I stepped onto the bridge I saw I was running 7:25 pace and I told myself I needed to push to sub-7:20 by the end of the bridge. Once I made it to the end of the bridge, it was a turn downhill to the right and then onward under the bridge we had just crossed and toward the aquarium. I knew I had less than a half-mile to go and I was really pushing. I looked down and saw I was running 6:50 pace which caused me to have a little bit of a melodramatic chuckle since that had been my goal pace coming into the season.

As I came out from passing under the bridge I saw my dad with Carter on his shoulders and a wave of happiness passed over me. I smiled and waved at them and yelled to Carter who was so proud to yell back that he had been cheering for all the other runners while he waited for me. I could hear my mom cheering for me and started scanning where I heard her voice, looking for her, but couldn't place her. Then I heard her again and looked over to see Jeremy, Thomas, and Ty who I smiled at. I kept hearing my mom but couldn't see her and after the race found out it was because she was making her way to the finish line to take pictures. I turned toward the finish and saw bubbles blowing across the finish line like last year. I could barely see the finishing clock due to the sun and freaked out for a minute because I saw it ticking over from 1:3X and thought it was ticking over to 1:35. My only goal going into the race was to break 1:35 so my heart dropped for a second until I got closer to the clock and realized it had just ticked over to 1:34. I hit mile 13 in 7:07 and then ran the last portion of the race at 6:23 pace. I stopped my watch as I crossed the finish line in 1:34:11 but the results show 1:34:13 so I'm not sure what happened there. My Garmin showed my average pace was 7:10 per mile. I hadn't synced my new Garmin up with Garmin Connect yet so it would tell me my 5k and 10k splits as they would be new PR's according to my watch. It was fun to finish the race and have it tell me I had run a 5k, 10k, half-marathon, and distance PR even though I knew none of that was correct. My 5k split was 21:37 and my 10k was 43:49. I got a kick out of the fact that my 5k split would have won overall female in the 5k so I would have gotten a $50 gift card to New Balance.

Finishing picture from the race's Facebook page.

Finishing picture Ty took on his phone.

Finishing picture mom took on her camera.

It was nice to run a race with no real time goals. I wanted to be under 1:35 but I figured I could do that without trying too hard. I wasn't disappointed in my time but I wasn't super excited either. When I thought it over I decided running 12 seconds per mile slower than the fall really wasn't too bad considering how close I was to injuring myself by over-training. I decided to look up my past half-marathon times and this would be my 4th fastest out of 14, 6 of which I ran while either pregnant or less than a year after giving birth, but still up there! It wasn't the 1st fastest that I had trained in hopes of hitting but 4th isn't too shabby and it was my first time running a 1:34:XX which is kind of cool. Most of all I'm proud of myself for pushing through and finishing out a tough season, for going ahead with this race and not giving up. There were times when I wanted to just drop the race since I wasn't going to run a PR but I didn't. I pushed through a difficult race and didn't let being so far off the time I had been working so hard to hopefully hit ruin my day. I smiled, I enjoyed the race, and I had fun. My friend Sara had told me, "Just smile the whole way," and I thought of that every time I thanked a police officer closing a street and when I passed other runners with a smile. It was definitely a race where I gave myself the flexibility to just smile and enjoy it. Around the half-way point Sara's comment came into my head and "just smile" became my race motto. When I got my results printed out it showed I had finished 269th overall, 188th female, and 30th in my age group. I knew that wasn't correct but I didn't worry about it. Then I ran into the guy on my race team whose wife works at the aquarium. He said that one of the volunteers who had been in charge of registration at packet pick-up hadn't been paying attention and had just given out bibs randomly without checking to see which race they were signed up for. So there were 5k and 10k runners who were listed as having finished the half-marathon. They got it fixed surprisingly fast considering I was 15th overall and I was originally listed as 269th overall so they had to go through over 200 participants listed in the wrong race! I finished 15th out of 504 overall, 3rd out of 312 women, and 1st out of 46 in my age group.

This race definitely had the coolest bibs I've ever seen!

Carter didn't want to stop running after he finished the mile fun run!

As far as the rest of the family goes, it sounded like there were a lot of mix-ups and mistakes with their races. Jeremy drove a different way to the aquarium than we did so he got stopped by police and had to park about a mile away, running to the aquarium, making it to the race start late. He still finished 6th overall and 2nd in his age group, finishing in 43:57. Dad missed a turn in the 5k and ended up running a total of 4.5 miles in 32:07. He was really disappointed because he was running right behind the guy who ended up winning his age group up until that point. At first I was shocked he missed a turn but then he explained that the 10k was going on at the same time and he just followed the wrong group so that made sense. That's the tricky part of starting all the races at different times, it gets a little crazy out on the course since they all run the same course. Even running all the extra distance, dad still placed 6th out of 17 in his age group. Thomas ran the race wearing an octopus mask he asked my mom to make him like Davy Jones in Pirates of the Carribean. He said it was nearly impossible to run in it as he could barely breathe but he still finished in 23:02, good for 5th out of 26 in his age group. Mom and Carter ran the mile fun run together. Mom said Carter made a little friend about his age and the only reason Carter walked was because his friend did so he stopped to walk and talk with him. Then as they neared the finish the other boy started pushing Carter and trying to knock him off the course so he could beat him. Mom got the boy to stop and Carter cruised past him to the finish line. So I'd say I had the least challenging race by far and I ran the farthest!

I had been talking the sea turtles up with my family all week and was so excited to go see them. We headed inside and were bummed about the food. In the past they've always had awesome post-race food. The first year I ran they had hamburgers and chips and each year since they've had breakfast burritos. This year they had croissants, cookies, and cupcakes, which none of us really wanted to eat. I was glad they had Powerade because I pretty much just filled up on two Powerades. Thomas took Carter into the aquarium and Jeremy and I followed. I was so glad I walked in at the same time as Jeremy because his reaction to the sea turtles was priceless. He couldn't believe their size and was just amazed by them asking questions and pointing out different things inside the exhibit. I was so happy and excited and couldn't stop smiling as I told him different facts about sea turtles. It was so neat to see him just completely amazed by how awesome they are in person. I had sent everyone pictures but it just doesn't do them justice. We had a lot of fun walking around the aquarium before Carter had a bit of a meltdown in the restroom because he asked the lady beside us not to use the hand driers while he was washing his hands because the loud noise hurts his ears (they have those crazy loud ones that dry your hands super fast), she did anyway and it was a total meltdown. So we ended up leaving but he was in better spirits by the end because we stopped in the gift shop to play with the puzzles they have out on a table for kids to play with. During the middle of the season Ty and I decided I probably shouldn't train for anything over a 10k in the spring again since I have so much trouble with my allergies, but after the awesomeness of this race, I'm already contemplating doing the half-marathon again next year with a lighter weekly mileage load.

 

Route 66 Half Marathon

All week leading up to the race Ty and I were both checking the weather predictions for the weekend hoping the temperatures would warm up. No such luck. Sunday morning when we left the house for the race it was 31 degrees and felt like 25 degrees with the wind chill. I was dressed in tights which meant I would be running my first half marathon in tights. I guess I've always lucked out in that I've never run a half marathon in below 35 degree temps. I wavered back and forth but finally decided shorts would be too darn cold. I have a thinner pair of tights and went with them paired with a spandex top, a long sleeved tech shirt, gloves, and a headband. Since Ty would be using the belt I normally take my Gu in, I had tried out different short options on long runs so I wouldn't encounter the chaffing I received during the Prairie Fire run from wearing my Gu in my sports bra. All that preparation was for naught, but what can you do. It made me a bit nervous the temperature was so cold since the coldest I've run in so far this fall was last week at the Run to the Lights 5k when it was 43 degrees.

We got a bit later start heading to the race than we had hoped. We circled around for a while looking for parking and eventfully parked in a parking garage. We were in a hurry to get to the start as we only had 10 minutes until the gun would be fired. Once they fired the gun we would not be allowed to enter our corral, corral A, we would be redirected to corral D. As we stepped out of the parking garage we were greeted with a freezing blast of wind. Thomas said, "Why did none of the people we saw walking to the start look like they were freezing?!" I was shivering and my teeth were chattering. We made our way into the corral and dad and Thomas waited in the back for Jeremy who had headed back to the car to put his sweatpants away. I weaved my way toward the front and lined up behind the 1:45 pace group. With how cold it was I had lost some of the excitement for running the race. My goal going into the race was to break 1:40 but as I walked out into the freezing temperatures I slowly began to abandon hope. I had told my dad that morning I'd be a lot more excited about the race if it were 15 degrees warmer. As I stood in the corral, listening to the announcer talk about it being the 10th year I started getting really excited. We cheered on the wheelchair competitors as they started 2 minutes before us and then it was the countdown to the race. As they shot the starting gun, confetti rained down and it was awesome. I was so pumped up and was excited to reach the start line so I could take off. 

The race wasn't too congested where I started and I was able to swing out to the left in order to pass runners. My plan had been to run the first mile around 7:40-7:50 pace. With how cold it was I knew it would take a while for my legs to warm up and I didn't want to be discouraged about my pace so I left my watch covered up by my shirt. As we approached the first mile marker there was a race clock and I saw it ticking down to 7:00 minutes. I became alarmed and saw my mile split pop up as 7:02 on my watch. I felt really comfortable and figured my 2nd mile would slow down to at least 7:30 pace. I left my watch covered because I wanted to run off feel. My 2nd mile was 7:19. I decided I was either going to have an amazing race or I was going to burn out and run 9:00 pace for the second half of the race. I assumed I'd run around 7:20 pace for the rest of the time but went through mile 3 in 7:10. I felt comfortable and have had a lot of success running tempo runs while only looking at my watch for mile splits rather than checking my pace during miles, so I decided to keep rolling with it. Since I'm still nursing Elise I made sure to take water at every water stop. During the first water stop I grabbed a cup which was filled all the way to the top so the water splashed out onto my tights and all over my gloves. I was ready to take my gloves off anyway so I just pulled them off and tucked then in the band of my tights. The community support in the neighborhoods was amazing. There were so many people out in their yards cheering us on, playing loud music, and offering free beer and treats. The spectators really make the race amazing.

The miles were really just flying by. It helped that there were water stops every 2 miles. It broke the race up really well. I enjoyed all the signs along the course. The art museum we ran by had signs saying "You are a masterpiece" and "Members run 50% faster". I saw Jeremy ahead of me around mile 4 and talked to him for a little bit as I pulled up beside him before he took off. Miles 4-6 were 7:20, 7:16, and 7:08. I was still only looking at my mile splits and not checking my pace in between miles. I felt great and was really excited because I knew I was on pace to run faster than my postpartum PR from when Carter was 11 months old which was 7:21 pace. I was cruising along and enjoying the race so much I forgot to eat my Gu until I saw them passing out free ones at the 7 mile water stop. At that point I went ahead and ate my Gu which was a different consistency than I'm used to because it was so cold. I had zipped it in a side pocket of my tights. Before the race I was able to slowly eat a bar which gave me around 200 calories going into the race and I didn't even feel hungry like I normally do. I usually really look forward to eating my Gu and get a huge pick me up after doing so. 

During mile 8 we headed out onto Riverside where Ty and I run a lot. It was fun to run on such a familiar road. We headed up a decent sized hill and I was feeling so good I hardly noticed it. Miles 7-9 were 7:10, 7:22, and 7:15. Somewhere in these miles I saw a man dressed as Waldo from "Where's Waldo" with a sign that said "You found me," which I found highly entertaining since we always read those books with my mom as a kid. Mile 10 greeted us with some of the biggest hills in the race. A couple were tough enough that my thighs were starting to burn as we crested the top. That was my slowest mile of the race in 7:38 which I was pleased was only 4 seconds over my goal pace despite all the difficult hills! Going into the last 3 miles I kept telling myself just a 5k to go. I was starting to get tired and the race had thinned out. I had caught all the runners close to me and was running a decent distance back from the closest runners to me. I went through mile 11 in 7:16 and started to catch up to a female runner ahead of me. 

As we headed into the last 2 miles we were running on part of the Jingle Bell 5k course. With a mile and a half to go the marathoners turned to the right and we continued on straight. I was so thankful that I was so near the finish rather than almost half way done! I went through mile 12 in 7:20 and my goal was to get my last mile back under 7:20. I remembered from the elevation chart on the bottom of the course map there would be a couple doozies of hills during that last mile. I caught up to a woman running ahead of me and as I passed her she cheered me on. I kept trying to push the pace as much as I could. From what I had seen for my elapsed time at mile 11 I knew if I ran my last 2 miles really strong I could break into 1:35. I hit mile 13 in 7:14 and took off in high gear toward the finish. I heard them announce Jeremy finishing as I turned toward the finish with about a quarter mile or so to go. Then they announced my name as I crossed the line and saw I had just squeaked in under 1:36 for my gun time. I stopped my watch and saw I had run 13.19 miles, good for an average of 7:15 pace and a finishing time of 1:35:43. I was pumped with my time and was proud of how I ran. I walked through the chute, receiving my medal, water, and Gatorade. I saw Jeremy ahead of me and caught up to him where they were taking finisher photos with your medal. We walked through the chute together and then when I turned around I didn't see him so I headed out to watch dad, Thomas, and Ty finish by myself. I had turned down the wraps they were passing out at the finish because I was so hot but regretted it as I stood in the shade shivering in my sweaty sports bra and spandex shirt watching for everyone else to finish.

I watched dad and Thomas come running up together. Thomas took off sprinting and dad maintained pace. I couldn't see the finishing clock very well but I could tell they were under 2 hours. The finish area was blocked off extremely well so I didn't have much choice but to stand in the shade which was really cold. After dad and Thomas finished I knew I had about 10 minutes until Ty came by so I walked down around one blocked off area and back up so I could stand in the sun to watch Ty finish. This positioned me right in front of the 13 mile mark and there was a clock next to the 13 mile marker so I could tell what the elapsed time was. I saw Ty turn the corner toward me and filled with excitement, yelling and cheering for him. Then I looked at the clock and saw he was around 2:06 with just a tenth of a mile to go and jumped up and down with excitement. He said he couldn't hear me since he was using his headphones but he saw me jump and that spurred him forward as he thought to himself he might as well shave off a few more seconds. It was the first time I had ever seen him kick it in at the end of a race!

This is how packed the finish area was!

The race was organized differently than in previous years when we ran. They had a long finish chute completely blocked off. They gave you a finisher's medal, water, and Gatorade initially. Then you walked a bit further and they had the finisher's food. So it took quite a while to get out of the chute and once you were out you could not go back in. That was a bit of a bummer because I wasn't hungry right after the race but knew I would be later so I picked up the spaghetti they were passing out. By the time I was ready to eat it, it was super cold! Ty finished right in the thick of the race so the chute was really congested. I knew the only way to ensure I would make it back to the car was to find Ty. So even though I wanted to watch for some friends to finish, I headed to the exit of the chute to wait for Ty. Otherwise I had no idea how I would find him. We stopped off at the results table to get print outs of our finish time and splits. Then as we headed out to find everyone else we lucked out, running into dad and Thomas. Ty and Thomas claimed their beer tickets as dad and I went to find some covers to wrap around us as we were both freezing but had chosen not to take them where they were offered because we were still so hot from finishing the race. Big mistake on my part with how long I was standing around sweaty. We found Jeremy and by that time I was seeing spots and getting a migraine. I think it was due to being cold and sweaty for so long. My body was all hunched up, making my muscles tight.

The race course was different this year in that you started and finished in different places. Ty thought ahead and had us park closer to the finish and walk to the race start. The only problem was that since we were running late no one thought to check to see what street we had parked on or drop a pin on a phone so we could find our way back. We left the finish area around 11:00 thinking we'd be able to find it. After walking what seemed like circles up and down hills around downtown, googling parking garages, and asking for help from pedestrians, Thomas finally came up with the idea of using an app on Ty's phone to locate his phone which was in the car. Finally at noon after over 27,000 steps including the race and searching for the car, we were headed back to the house. When we made it home I took a shower and then napped for about an hour. When I woke up my head was feeling much better!

Finally returning home!

One of the nice things about such a big race is that the race results are posted so quickly. It was nice to get on that afternoon to see our times and how we had placed. Jeremy finished in 1:34:17 which put him 10th out of 290 in his age group and 61st out of 7,347 total runners! I ran 1:35:43. I was 3rd out of 565 in my age group, the 12th female finisher, and 78th overall! I was so proud of my time, beating my fastest half-marathon from after Carter was born! When Carter was 11 months old I ran 1:36:51 which was a 7:21 average mile pace. I ran 6 seconds per mile faster 8 months after Elise was born! Thomas finished next in 1:57:00, good for 76th out of 248 in his age group and 896th overall. Dad was right behind him in 1:57:12, 32nd out of 175 in his age group and 910th overall. Ty ran a new PR, finishing in 2:08:03, besting his time of 2:10:24 by over 2 minutes! He was 116th in his age group and 1,749th overall. He maintained a 9:47 per mile pace average even with stopping to drink free beer being passed out by spectators! We all had a great time and I am looking forward to possibly running another half marathon in the spring! Thanks to my mom who stayed home with the kids so Ty and I could both run! It was awesome to both PR and know the kids were warm at home with their Oma!

Thank you mom!

 

Another Tempo Run, Another Break Through

I'm at a great spot with my running right now. I feel like every race I run and each training run I head out for I have another postpartum PR or another fastest pace since Elise was born. I finish my runs and I get that runner's high that I had been missing. I walk away from runs with my legs feeling worn out. I'm finally to the point where I can push myself and feel sore, not pained. It's a great feeling. I've missed the kind of running where you head out and are surprised by fast paces or how strong you feel. I've missed going out and pushing my body hard and then recovering enough to push it again with just one easy recovery day in between. It may have taken 7 months to get here, but I'm here and I'm loving it! This weekend was our first free weekend in a while with no races or traveling. It was also 2 weeks out from the half-marathon we will run the weekend before Thanksgiving so it was the perfect time to get a long run in. I planned to do an 8 mile tempo run with a mile warm up and a mile cool down for a total of 10 miles on the day. My last tempo run was a 6 miler the weekend after the Prairie Fire half-marathon. I was able to run it in 7:35 pace so I figured 7:30 pace would be a good goal for my 8 mile tempo as it was 2 miles longer but I had only raced a 5k the weekend before rather than a half-marathon. I headed to run from a trail spot near our house that has a giant hill in the first half mile. I knew that meant I would have a long downhill during the first mile and a horrendous uphill during the last mile but I wasn't worried about it since they would be my warm up and cool down miles.  We had talked about possibly running the Jenks half marathon this weekend, running it as a long training run rather than a race. I was really tempted because I have a friend who coaches the cross country team that hosts the race as a fundraiser for their team and because they gave out candy bars at the finish line. That in mind I knew it would cost money rather than be a free training run and I hadn't particularly enjoyed the race when we ran it 2 years ago. It was a small race and I ended up running mostly alone. The course it open to cars so you have to run on the slant of the road and there were no spectators out on the course since the roads were open to traffic. Instead we decided we would buy Snickers bars to eat after our long run. So I headed out on my run with my Snickers bar in the car awaiting my return.

I took off and felt comfortable yet a bit sluggish running my warm up mile which I ran in 8:20 pace. With how my warm up felt I decided to run my first mile of the tempo by feel rather than watching my pace on my Garmin. I was afraid I was going to struggle and didn't want to force 7:35-7:40 pace for the first couple miles and burn out at the end. I was shocked when my watch beeped for the first mile and I had run it in 7:29. In my head I figured I was just excited to get the first fast mile in and I would slow down. I didn't want to get frustrated that my pace was slowing so I made sure not to check my watch for pace, running based on feel. The next mile was 7:22. I was feeling great at that pace and was so glad I hadn't paid attention to my pace those first 2 miles because I would have forced myself to slow down. I couldn't believe how great I felt. I was definitely pushing the pace but I felt comfortable. Knowing my goal for the half marathon on November 22nd is to break 1:40 which is around 7:35 pace, I was getting really excited at the pace I was running. Miles 3 and 4 were 7:22 and 7:23 so I was maintaining the pace! I ate my Gu when I hit mile 5 of my run/mile 4 of my tempo. Typical for long runs, once I ate my Gu I was able to speed up. The next mile was 7:20 and my goal for my last 3 miles was to be under 7:20 pace. I did that easily with miles 6, 7, and 8 at 7:10, 7:09, and 6:59.

I was so pumped my last 3 miles were faster than what I had been running for a 5k just 2 months ago. My average pace for the Little Balkan's 5k at the beginning of September had been 7:10 per mile. It's not easy getting back into shape postpartum, but it sure is rewarding! When I first started back running after Elise was born I knew a little bit better what to expect as far as how long it would take me to get my running form back since I'd experienced it after Carter was born. Still it seemed like it would be forever until I was back running the times I wanted to be running! Sometimes it is hard to be patient, but it sure pays off! These last few months as I've finally started to get back down to my pre-pregnancy paces and times it has been extremely motivating to get faster each time I race or go out for a long run. I'm proud of the work I put in both during my pregnancy and afterward to get to this point. I'm pumped about my last couple races and long runs and I'm ready to rock the half-marathon in 2 weeks!

And she is so worth it!

Prairie Fire Half Marathon

Going into the half-marathon on Sunday I was feeling pretty confident. I had numerous really strong long runs under my belt. I knew I was capable of hitting my goal of 8 minute pace for 12 miles so 13 miles at that pace should be a breeze! But Thursday and Friday my legs felt tired and sluggish on my runs so I was a little bit nervous. The zoo run had been that previous Saturday and I probably should have taken it a little bit easier than I had early in the week to recover. On Tuesday I planned to run 3-4 miles. We went to storytime by a park that has a 3 mile loop which is mostly gravel and has some significant uphills so it's a bit challenging with the double stroller. Both the kids fell asleep so I decided to keep running and ended up doing 6 miles. I almost kept going to 7 but stopped and was thankful I did as my left calf started cramping up shortly after I started walking. With poor runs on Thursday and Friday doubt started setting in. Originally I felt a reasonable goal was 7:40 pace but after the week I'd had I wasn't so sure. My confidence began to waver but I reminded myself that as long as I wasn't sick or injured I could still have a good race. The training was there.

At the race expo on Saturday afternoon.

 

Saturday evening Elise went down in her Pack N Play, easy peasy. Carter wasn't too keen on sleeping in the hotel bed by himself so he talked his Opa into laying with him. The rest of us headed out for ice cream and to pick up some items at Wal-Mart. When we returned Elise was awake and screaming in bed with Opa and Carter, who was awake and talking. I quickly grabbed Elise and then Ty and I got ready for bed. Eventually we just moved around to where Ty was in bed with Carter and I was in bed with Elise with pillows under the fitted sheet on both sides to keep her from rolling off the bed. Sister tossed and turned and didn't fall into a deep sleep until almost 11:00. I'm not going to lie, laying there in bed for 2 hours trying to soothe her to sleep while listening to Ty snore made me super jealous. But I also knew we didn't need to get up until 6:45 since we just had a short walk to the race start. Thankfully once Elise was down she slept until 4 am and then nursed and went right back to sleep. Carter woke up bright eyed and bushy tailed at 6 am. I talked Ty into taking him to breakfast so I could go back to sleep but no such luck. I just laid there unable to sleep. Even with all the interruptions I still got 7.5 hours of sleep which was good! I eventually just got up to get ready rather than attempt to sleep. Elise woke up while I was dressing and then didn't eat very well so I decided to pump so I could leave a bottle with my mom. Between Elise not really eating and worrying about mom having enough to feed her, I forgot to put lotion on my feet. I always make sure to do that before every long run because my narrow feet tend to slide around and I get blisters. Even in narrow shoes!

Carter making a sign for us at the race expo.

When I said we had a short walk I wasn't kidding. We left our hotel room at 7:18. I stopped off in the breakfast area to grab a bagel to eat as we walked and we made it to the race start with minutes to spare before the 7:30 start time. I was able to eat about an eighth of the half a bagel I picked up, breaking off small chunks as we walked. We arrived in the starting area and walked through an open section in the corral gate and walked further up. Ty stopped and I didn't know because I was leading the group toward the front. I was looking at the pacers' signs to see where I needed to line up. I decided to stop when I got up by the 1:45 pacer. When I turned around dad, Jeremy, and Thomas were with me but Ty wasn't. I hadn't thought about him lining up farther back and was really disappointed I didn't get to give him a kiss and tell him good luck before the race. Jeremy walked up a bit farther and then we waited. I felt like I had positioned myself well at the start, but I still ended up weaving through quite a few slower runners. I got stuck behind a very large pace group which I had to jump up on the sidewalk to get around. In the first mile we turned toward the hotel we stayed at and I knew mom would be there with the kids so I made sure I was on the far left of the road. She was on the sidewalk on the right so when I saw her I veered over to that side and was so excited to see her, Carter, and Elise. I was prepared for that to be the only place I would see them. My plan for the race had been to go out around 8:00 pace for the first 3 miles and see how much I could pick it up from there. I went through the first mile in 7:44 and got excited. I secretly really wished I was in shape to run under 1:40 because all of my half-marathons other than when I've been pregnant have been under 1:40 except for two really terrible ones I ran when I was sick. I knew sub-1:40 would take around a 7:36 pace average. I got a little bit too excited thinking that was a possibility and the yearning to hit that pace really changed the tone of the race for me. My next 2 miles were 7:51 and 7:50. Instead of being excited I was under my goal pace of 8 minutes, I started calculating how much over 7:36 pace I was and how much time I would have to make up during the 2nd half of the race.

I love this picture. That's me right there, Thomas in the orange behind me and dad in blue beside him.

2/3 of our amazing cheer squad!

I went through mile 4 in 7:51 and felt discouraged. I knew I had over 45 seconds to attempt to make up and was realizing I would need to run around 7:30 pace for the remainder of the race. Instead of listening to my body and realizing that 7:50 was where I needed to be as it felt comfortable at the time and I don't like to push too much during the first half of the race as I pay for it later, I tried to pick up the pace. Before the race Ty and I had discussed how he would run with his phone. He likes to listen to music during races but his arm band didn't fit his new phone. I had a belt I wear to carry my Gu as I don't have pockets in my spandex shorts. I decided to give him my belt and I would carry my Gu in my sports bra. I could feel it rubbing during the first few miles, but it wasn't until I hit mile 5 that it became really uncomfortable so I pulled it out and carried it for the next mile before I ate it. In those first few miles I also realized I had forgotten to put lotion on my feet as I felt my foot rubbing and forming a blister. I went through mile 5 in 7:33 and mile 6 in 7:47. I was holding onto hope that with the Gu at mile 6 I would get a second wind and would be able to pick it up enough to break 1:40. Mile 7 was 7:41 and then I feel a surge in mile 8, especially because we had a nice, rolling downhill for much of the mile. I hit mile 8 in 7:25 and then mile 9 in 7:38. With how much effort I was putting in and was still over pace for a sub-1:40 I finally gave in to the fact that it just wasn't going to happen. Instead I tried to settle into a comfortably difficult pace as I headed into the final miles of the race.

Normally my last 4 miles of the race are my fastest with the last mile being my very fastest. That was not the case on Sunday. I had put too much effort into the middle miles attempting to hit a pace that was unrealistic for me right now. I was proud of myself though. When I realized I wasn't going to break 1:40 I thought about just giving in those last few miles. I told myself, who cares what time you run? It's for sure going to be over 1:40 and you can slow down a lot and still be under 1:45. Does it really matter how much over 1:40/how much under 1:45? But I told myself no. I had worked too hard, I had pushed too much. I was not giving in now. So instead I kept pushing the pace, kept giving it all I had. Miles 10-12 were 7:39, 7:44, and 7:30. I had a huge pick-me-up when I saw mom, Carter, and Elise around the 11 mile mark. Those last few miles I could see a woman in a turquoise tank top running quite a ways ahead of me. I could tell she was slowing down while I was speeding up so I was closing in on her slowly but surely. I started focusing on catching her. The last 2 miles were into the wind and she was drafting off of a guy in front of her. I was running alone so I didn't have that luxury. With just over a mile to go I caught up to her and as I passed her I could hear her behind me. She had swung out and was now drafting off me instead of the guy and was going with me. I made it my goal to stay ahead of her and kept thinking she was waiting to out kick me at the end. I hit mile 13 in 7:42 and could see the bridge you cross and then head to the finish line just over it. I ran as hard as I could and was so happy to cross the finish line. My official finishing time was 1:41:08, an average of 7:40 pace according to my Garmin. I was disappointed my last mile wasn't my fastest but I knew it wasn't due to lack of effort. I put everything I had into that last mile, but my legs had just given out. I ran too fast in the beginning and paid for it. Thankfully now I know what I'm capable of and can do a better job of pacing myself next month during our second half marathon. In the chute I received my medal, finisher's shirt, a water bottle, and a Gatorade. The woman in the turquoise shirt congratulated me as she walked by. I had ended up beating her by almost 30 seconds. Then I was off to watch everyone else finish.

You can see the woman in turquoise drafting off of me here.

I walked out across the bridge and just kept walking until I saw dad. He looked so strong and I excitedly waved my shirt and cheered for him. Then I walked some more waiting for Thomas to finish and cheered for him. I walked out some more waiting on Ty to finish and then started walking back toward the finish line. I could hear the announcer giving updates on where the top marathon finishers were and how much time had elapsed since the start of the race. They started the marathon and the half marathon together so I knew the time for the half marathon was the same. I saw Ty come into view and cheered like crazy for him. He looked the strongest I had ever seen him look at the end of a half marathon. I heard the announcer say the marathoners were at 2 hours and 9 minutes. I knew Ty was for sure within the last half mile of the race so it would take him less than 5 minutes to finish. I got super excited because I knew his PR was a 2:16:35. I was so excited I took off running after him because I wanted to see him cross the finish line and know his time. He cross around 2:12 gun time so I knew he had for sure run a PR with an even bigger PR based on chip time. I found mom, dad, Thomas, Carter, and Elise as I was walking toward the finish chute to congratulate Ty so I grabbed Carter so he could tell Ty good job. I had the biggest smile on my face as we told him what a great job he did and how strong he looked finishing.

Ty at mile 5.

Crossing the finish line in record time!

We eventually found Jeremy after watching the top marathoners finish and then found the results so we could see what our unofficial times were. Jeremy had finished in 1:33:01 putting him 35th out of 1,805 total finishers and 5th out of 96 in his age group. I finished in 1:41:08 good for 5th out of 152 in my age group and 91st overall. Dad was next in 1:52:07 which put him 11th out of 53 in his age group and 238th overall. Thomas finished in 2:00:23 which was 26th in his age group and 465th overall. Ty ran a huge PR of 2:10:24! He was 38th of 59 in his age group and 700th overall! That put him in the top 40th percent of the race. We didn't stick around for awards even though they were getting ready to start them as we were heading back to the hotel because none of us had been in the top 3 of our age group. It wasn't until days later when we were looking at the official results that we realized I had placed 3rd in my age group because 2 of the top 3 overall female finishers were in my age group so they just received overall awards without age group awards.

 

 

Nursing Elise while enjoying some post-race milk myself, mine was chocolate though!

Walking back to our hotel.

After the race I was talking to Ty about how much my ankle hurt. The only thing I could think was that I had run too much on the slant of the road although I had tried to stay up in the middle of the road to combat that. It wasn't until we got home that I realized I had run on the outside of my foot because I had a blister on the inside of my foot and it put a lot of stress on my ankle. I drained the blister and went back to walking normally but it took a little while for my ankle to feel better. I had run I'm guessing around 7 miles on the outside of my foot due to the blister. Darn your body automatically making form changes to compensate for pain! I also ended up with some really bad chaffing from the Gu packet on the side of my breast which made it painful to wear a bra for days and, naturally, Elise accidentally latched on there twice which really hurt and girl never misses! I wouldn't change a thing though, I would still give up my belt knowing it would result in a PR for Ty even though it meant chaffing for me.

Back at the hotel Carter was desperate to swim so I took him to the pool while everyone else showered. It was quite a bit of fun and felt really good on my legs to stretch out and kick in the water. Overall it was an awesome weekend. We had so much fun with my family and enjoyed goofing around during our Wal-Mart trip on Saturday night. I enjoyed the race and loved getting to watch everyone except Jeremy finish. It was so exciting to watch Ty run a PR even though I was 10 minutes off my fastest time! I enjoyed hearing about mom's morning with the kids and then swimming with Carter before we all headed to lunch. It was the kind of perfect weekend that leaves you smiling for days afterward. Now I'm looking forward to our crazy busy race schedule with numerous 5ks leading up to my goal half-marathon the weekend before Thanksgiving. We've run this race 3 years now. Read about last year's race here and 2013's race here.

Ready to swim.

Prairie Fire Half Marathon 2014

Last year Jeremy, Thomas, and I ran the Prairie Fire Half Marathon.  We chose the race because it was close to where Thomas was living at the time and we could go visit him and run the race while we were there.  We had a great experience.  It was a very organized race with great spectators and cool shirts.  Mom and dad spectated the race and loved how many points of the race they could walk to with the stroller.  Right after the race my mom was pumped up about it and asked us if we'd run it again.  We all agreed we would so she went ahead and registered us for this year.  At the time Ty and I hadn't begun discussing me staying at home and therefore were still thinking we'd have to put 3-4 years between our children so we could afford 2 in daycare.  There was no doubt in my mind I'd be able to run the race.  Dad enjoyed watching us run and after the Boston Marathon bombing he decided he wanted to run a half marathon, so he also signed up.  Ty was registered for his first half marathon that following month and bravely agreed to sign up before even experiencing his first half.

2014 finisher's picture.  Carter wanted to be in the picture too!

Saturday morning we slept in, ate breakfast, took the dogs to the kennel, ate lunch, and then headed out.  We arrived a few minutes before mom and dad.  Once they arrived and we checked into the hotel we headed to the race expo.  It was the first race expo Ty had ever been to in order to pick up his own packet.  The half marathon he ran last November was very small and didn't have an expo.  The expo was within walking distance of our hotel so we walked there and back.  We stayed at the Drury Inn and were very impressed that they served a free dinner to guests.  We ate dinner at the hotel.  They served hot dogs, chili, baked potatoes, macaroni and cheese, salad, carrots, and celery.  Not the ideal pre-race dinner, but I had macaroni and cheese, a baked potato, salad, carrots, and celery.  It was actually quite delicious.  We hung out in the room for a bit and then headed out for some frozen custard per my request.

At the race expo.

We had adjoining rooms and both rooms had 2 beds.  We put pillows under the sheets all around one bed and let Carter sleep by himself.  As I laid in bed with him, helping him fall asleep, I noticed I was struggling to see out of my left eye.  I wasn't sure if I was having the tell-tell migraine vision loss because it was dark.  After Carter fell asleep I headed into my parents' room with everyone else and immediately knew I had the vision loss that accompanies a migraine so I said good night to everyone and headed to bed myself around 9pm.  My head started hurting pretty much right when I laid down so it took me quite a while to fall asleep.  Once I did I woke up about every hour either because my head hurt so bad I needed to move positions or because I was so overheated (thank you bun in the oven for turning me into an oven when I sleep!)  It was a rough night.  And of course every time I woke up I wasn't able to fall back to sleep because I had to use the restroom so I had to get up and potty every. single. time.  Finally at 6:30 when I woke up I decided to just get up.  As I was sitting on the toilet going potty for the millionth time I started dry heaving fiercely.  I thought I was going to actually throw up so I grabbed the trash can.  My head was still pounding, but it was getting better.

The race started at 7:30 and was really close to our hotel so we left our hotel at 7:15 to walk to the race.  That gave us plenty of time to get there and kept us from having to wait in the long porta potty lines as we got our last minute restroom breaks done in the hotel lobby.  It wasn't nearly as cold as I was expecting as the weather app had said it was 45 degrees and felt like 42 degrees.  I could tell there was a decently strong wind so I decided to go ahead and wear my long sleeved shirt, gloves, and head band along with my spandex shorts (no chaffing for this momma!)  We put all of our warm gear in the stroller and headed for the race start.  I gave Ty a kiss as we approached the area in the starting corral where he would line up.  Jeremy was going way up front so we said bye to him.  When dad heard about my low placenta and the doctor's concern about bleeding during long runs he decided to run the race with me.  Since I'd run my 10 miler at 9:00 pace my goal was to break 2 hours and that was also dad's goal.  We walked up until we found the 2 hour pace group and lined up there for the start.  My concerns during this race were that I would dry heave more during the race, I would have bleeding, and my head would kill.  Luckily none of those things happened.  Every once in a while as a foot would hit the pavement my head would ache and I couldn't find my sunglasses as we were leaving, so the sun killed once it came out.

Walking to the race start.

When the gun went off dad and I had to walk for a while to get to the start.  Our plan was to start off at 9 minute per mile pace.  Our first 3 miles were 8:54, 8:52, and 9:02.  It felt so slow and during the 2nd mile at one point dad informed me that we had sped up to 7:40 pace so we had to rein it in a little bit.  Once we finished the 3rd mile I asked dad if he wanted to shoot for a bit faster pace for the next 3 miles, possibly 8:50-8:55 pace.  Then I realized that we had some decent hills in that section.  We were still able to pick it up for a couple miles with miles 4-6 at 8:55, 8:50, and 9:05.  I was a little worried when I saw we hit a 9:05 mile because I was starting to feel a little bit tired and I knew 9:04 pace was a 1:59 half-marathon.  Luckily it was time to eat our Gu.  Dad had never tried one before and had a bit of a difficult time getting his down, but he did.  Once I ate my Gu I got my 2nd wind.  I had originally thought I'd try for my usual race strategy of picking the pace up a little bit each quarter, but going into mile 7 I told dad I just wanted to shoot for 9:04 or under for the rest of the race.  I didn't want to push it too much and my hips were starting to feel sore.

Our awesome cheer squad with the sign complete with an ultrasound picture!

Close up of the sign.

We went through miles 7-9 at 9:04, 8:51, and 8:49.  We saw Carter and mom at mile 9.  I was able to pass off my gloves, long sleeved shirt, and belt I put our Gu in.  Dad passed off his red jacket he'd been wearing.  I got really excited going into mile 10 because I knew we were heading into the last quarter of the race.  I had to keep telling myself not to get too excited and pick it up too much.  I didn't want to lose steam during the last few miles.  There were a few times I thought I lost dad because I didn't see red in my peripheral vision and I realized dad was now in a blue short sleeved shirt.  We both felt like passing off clothing to mom really made us feel lighter and gave us an extra pep in our step.  We were surprised to see mom again at mile 11.  We saw her before she saw us so we yelled at her.  She got so excited she took off running to get in front of us for a picture and stuff started falling off the stroller.  It was cute because we heard people behind us letting her know her camera had fallen off the stroller.  Runners really are so nice.  Around this time we got passed by the lead marathon runner heading into mile 16 of the marathon.  That was pretty exciting and I couldn't cheer for him loud enough. 

Carter enjoying a banana while we ran.

Miles 10-12 were 8:47, 8:56, and 8:42.  After running mile 12 in 8:42 I knew we needed to really pick it up during the last mile because I like to run my last mile the fastest.  I started to really take off and dad kept right with me.  With about a half mile to go we were really blowing by other runners and then we hit the 13 mile mark in 8:26 and I could see the bridge you cross and then finish on the other side.  As we turned onto the bridge I heard Jeremy cheering for us.  I looked forward and saw a woman in all yellow pretty close in front of us so I decided to catch her.  We went around her and as we crossed the finish line I saw 1:56 on the clock.  Boom, we had run under 2 hours even for our gun time with the walk we had to the start.  Our official finishing time was 1:56:44.  They gave dad the win over me, possibly due to alphabetical order David vs. Elizabeth.  We were handed medals and had to stop in order to get our finishers shirts.  Right after I finished my head which had felt pretty darn good during the race immediately started pounding.  After I got my shirt I started dry heaving as I grabbed water and Gatorade and attempted to get out of the finish area as quickly as possible.  I'm used to being farther up in races where it's less congested and with my head feeling the way it did I was getting really frustrated with all the runners meandering around and stopping in front of me.  I looked back to see dad was way behind me, but I had to get out of the area because I couldn't stop dry heaving. 

Me and dad after the finish.

We found mom and I was excited to see Carter.  Finally after drinking plenty of water, putting a towel on my neck, loosening my ponytail, and taking off my sweaty sports bra my head started to feel a little bit better.  I walked to the spectator area to watch Ty finish and also saw the first marathon runners finish.  I started to wonder if part of the reason why I felt so sick, other than my migraine, was because I needed to eat.  So I headed to the finishers area to get a chocolate milk.  I thought mom and dad would wait for me where they were, but they followed me without telling me.  I headed back to where they had been and they were gone.  I had heard them mention that they might as well start walking and assumed they were either going to walk toward where we knew Jeremy was or to the hotel.  I looked for them for a while and then decided to walk back to the hotel in case that's where they went.  I arrived at the hotel and didn't see them so I asked to call the room.  No one answered.  After sitting in the lobby for 30 minutes and assuming that they were either in the room and not answering the phone or out searching for me, it finally dawned on me that mom had her cell phone with her.  So I asked the front desk to call her.  Mom, Carter, and Ty were all still at the race searching for me while dad and Jeremy had walked back to the hotel to check there.  Dad was also in the lobby but had gone through different doors and I was facing the wrong way to see him.  I felt really bad everyone had spent so long looking for me and wished I'd thought to call mom sooner.  But I was thankful it was finally time for a shower!

I think the official finishing times show gun time, not chip time as Ty's Garmin showed a faster time.  I didn't stop my Garmin as I crossed the finish line, but I know I saw 1:56 on the finishing clock as we crossed the finish line and I know we walked for a bit to the start.  Jeremy finished 38th out of 1,995 finishers with a time of 1:29:27!  That put him 10th out of 131 runners in his age group.  Dad and I both finished in 1:56:44.  That put us 427th and 428th out of 1,995 runners which shocked me!  Dad was 20th out of 48 in his age group and I was 26th out of 192 in my age group.  Not bad for a pregnant lady!  Ty finished in 2:25:47 good for 1,338th out of 1,995 and 72nd out of 90 in his age group.  He struggled a bit in the race and was almost 10 minutes slower than his half marathon last year, but actually trained better for this race.  He said he went out in under 10 minute pace and felt that hurt him later on in the race.  Something I've learned through my years of running half marathons is that it's best to take off conservatively and try to make up time in the 2nd half rather than go out too fast because things deteriorate quickly.  Although not quite what he hoped for he was still positive and enjoyed the race.  He said the miles went by so much quicker in this race because he was always running with a pack of people.

Jeremy looking strong during the race!

Due to being pregnant I was cautious during the race.  I drank water at every water stop and even took 2 cups at some of the stops.  I didn't pick up the pace when I really felt like it until the very end of the race.  I was pleased to break 2 hours which was my goal and to finish with no bleeding.  It was so much fun to run with dad and the last time I remember running with him was back in high school when he'd run 5ks with me.  It was like a blast from the past and I really enjoyed getting to share in his first half marathon with him.  We had to rush off after lunch so we could make it home in time to pick Harper up from the kennel so we wouldn't have to pay for another night.  When we got home I told Ty this is the 2nd most sore and tired I've been after a half marathon.  He quickly responded with, "And the 2nd most pregnant you've been during a half marathon."  I thought it was hilarious and it is so true!  Even though I don't really look pregnant yet, I sure feel pregnant!  When my mom texted me to say they made it home I relayed Ty and my conversation because I thought it was funny.  She said dad said "This is the sorest I've ever been after a half (it was his first one) and I'm pretty sure it's because this pregnant woman tried to kick my ass."  I thought that was funny!  He told me the last mile of the race when I picked it up he thought about not going with me, but told himself he was going to run the whole race and finish with me so he took off too.  Sounds like he'd rather have coasted it in to the finish!