The Half Recap

Another race down!  Motivation for entering this particular one was mostly the timing.  My marathon training has a half marathon race built into it at roughly this time. 

Anything goes weather-wise in New England in March, so I really wasn't sure what I'd get, even though I was hoping for warm!  When we got over a foot of snow on Friday, I was disappointed and worried about what that might mean for the course.  As it turned out, there was absolutely no snow along the road.

The night before I felt awful with a terrible cold thing.  Shaun took one look at me when I got home from church and rushed me off to bed, with strict orders to not read but to just sleep!  I did, and when I woke I was feeling better, especially with all the meds I took.

I wore a short sleeved shirt and a long one on top, thinking at some point I'd take it off, but I never quite warmed up enough to do that.  The sun came out and the clouds cleared and it worked into a beautiful day.

The race was called Ocean's Run and, as advertised, we saw the ocean a couple times.  In fact, even though race start was in the upper 30's, I saw more than a dozen surfers.  Brrr!

This is the first race I've done with less than 10,000 people, so I really wasn't sure what to expect with just 350 half marathoners.  It ended up being a great number....for just the first mile I felt "squished" then it cleared nicely for the rest of the time, but never so much that I felt too alone.

The race was so well organized with plenty of enthusiastic volunteers...I was very impressed and would recommend them, TRIMOM Productions!

I felt good!  My knees didn't bother me at all and my achilles was just a minor problem.  This time I grabbed some water or sports drink at every even numbered station, except for mile 12, which I just skipped.  The power of water is just amazing!

I had several mantras during the two hours, this was one, particularly miles 12-13.  

The feeling of crossing that finish line, or more accurately, the feeling 5-10 minutes after crossing the finish line, never gets old.

The day before I sat down and made a thoughtful list of all the things I would need, yet I forgot my watch, which would have allowed me to determine my pace, which would have been quite helpful.  Oh well.

It was so great to have two of my sister-in-laws, Laryssa and Sarah, running!  Although we didn't run together, the fun before and after greatly enhanced the experience.

 My BIL Nathan was there as well to do the driving (I love getting to new places without getting lost!), to watch our stuff, to greet us at the finish line, and take pictures.  It was great to see his smiling face!

Admittedly, the thought of running a full marathon seems a bit more ludicrous to me so fresh off of race day, and the day of I was strongly second-guessing myself, but, for better or worse, I am pressing on!

No, dear brothers and sisters, I have not achieved it, but I focus on this one thing: Forgetting the past and looking forward to what lies ahead

Phil 3:13