As you can see from this picture I took at the START line, there were shoulder-to-shoulder people. 16,000 runners participated in the Half and 30,000 runners total for all races. It was amazingly organized. They started us in pace groups, about 2 minutes apart.
One of my favorite features in this race was the pacers. You can see the 2:18 pace sign in the photo below. It was nice to know how you were pacing to finish the race, based on which pace sign you'd just run by (or in my case), which pace sign had just passed you!
I finished my last two Half marathons at 2:38 and 2:35. I had a lofty goal of 2:15 for this race. I don't know WHAT I was thinking! So, I kind of set myself up for disappointment by aiming so high.
This was a tough race for me, both physically and mentally. After mile 5 I was running the race one mile at a time. After mile 8 I set a goal to finish sub 2:30, which required that I not slow my pace in the last 5 miles more than 30 seconds per mile.
Here I am crossing the finish line at 2:27:21
(beating my personal record by 8 minutes)!
I was a little sore this week, so I took the week (M - F) off while I was in SFO. Yesterday I ran 15 miles, which is a distance record for me. A friend pointed out today that I am already MORE than half way to 26.2!
Look for me at the Oz Marathon in Olathe, KS on April 16th!
Congrats! So proud of you! P.S. your legs look fantastic in that first pic! You go!!!
ReplyDeleteWOWZERS, girl ... that is AMAZING!! Congrats to you on your PR! And I agree your legs are smokin' hot!!! Then again, you've ALWAYS had amazing legs ;)
ReplyDeleteKILLED your old time! 8 minutes is HUGE!!!! CONGRATS!
ReplyDeleteYou are awesome! The mental part has got to be huge doing that distance. 8 minutes is an incredible amount to shave off your time!!
ReplyDeleteI'm starting to ramp up my long runs in order to train for my first half and I am nervous!! You inspire me!
ok, so you ran it one mile at a time after mile 5. Which means if you ran the first 5 miles of the race at your last 1/2 marathon pace, you still took 1 minute off for every mile after that!
ReplyDeletehow's that for a positive spin? You're awesome.
Loft goal, smofty goal. You still rocked it.
And you look smokin'!
How about all those people evena t the finish line? That's a busy course!