On April 15th I completed my first half marathon. Loved it. I can't wait to sign up and do another!
The night before the race Erin and I drove down to the Cape and had dinner at the British Beer Company (we had pulled pork sliders and buffalo chicken nacho's)and then headed over to Paula's. Paula is my husbands Aunt. After we got there I set my alarm and went straight to bed. I did toss and turn a bit but for the most part slept really well! Woke up about 5 min before my alarm went off to the yummy smell of BACON. Paula woke up early and made Erin and I a pancake breakfast! We ate and then got ready to leave.We arrived about 45 min early to the start line to get our bibs and packets.
It was a beautiful morning when we got there it was 49 degrees. I ended up starting the race wearing a t-shirt and a long sleeve over top to take off when I got hot. good thing I did because it was mid 60's when I crossed the finish line.
The race started at 8 am. I think everyone pretty much ran together for the first 2 miles and then people really start to pick up there pace. The course was pretty hilly and a good part of it as a long the water so a bit sunny! I really enjoyed the course!
My 1st 7 miles I ran at 9min a mile and then I started to slow down a some because I was getting hot.
At mile 7 I ran up to a girl and started to chat her up. lol we talked about different road races and Reach the Beach. She said she ran it last year too and so we shared stories really made that time go fast she was much fast so she took off after about 15 minutes.
At about mile 8 I took a GU and continued on at about a 10:30min mile...by mile 12 I was ready to get to the finish line so I picked up my pace and just RAN! As soon as I saw the crowd I sprinted! (can't even believe I had the energy to but I did)
Bill, Chase and Erin were at the finish line waiting for me!
The time was done manually...my GPS watch said I finished 10 sec faster that the clock they had set up. 2:06:26.
So I just have to brag on my self for a second! About a month a go when training I averaged 11 min miles. So I decided to try to work on speeding up. I ran 11 miles at 2 hr and 2 min then the following week 12 miles at 2hr and 2 min. RACE DAY 2hr 6min. I took almost a min and half a mile off of my time.
