half marathon

More Rock and Less Roll!!

my amazing sister came into town last weekend to run the pf change half-marathon with me. my goal....well my goal was to finish, and realistically finish under 2:20, but the competitor in me really wanted to shock myself and somehow finish under 2hrs. well....that didn't happen. but i finished, jo stayed with me the whole race too!! she normally runs a 8:30mile, while i average a slow and steady 10min mile. mile 8-10 was uphill so that through me for a loop. and then at mile 10 i thought i really gotta push it. i tried as best as i could to lengthen my stride and use my arms but i was still averaging a 10min mile. i finished 2:13 respectfully, only a mere 20min slower than my normal half time. but thats why i am a work in progress, i still have goals and i still have time to achieve them.

the race was wild. only 35,ooo registered runners, yes thats 35 thousand!! i haven't ever done a race that big before, running down all 6lines of an arizona highway was wild, and by the end, the running pack was still 3lanes thick of people. there were all sorts of bands, cheerleaders, and families cheering the whole 13mile race. getting there was crazy in itself as the race is an out and back course, jo and i planned to park at the start and then take the light rail back to the car. so we carried our $2 for the metro as we ran, and when we finished some nice lady pointed us in the right direction. (we just had to hike a small hill and half a mile to get there) then we hopped off the light rail and walked another 3/4 mile to the car. so we had a great cool down. i was dry-heaving the whole way, jo told me that i should run so hard that i throw-up at the end, and i pretty much did. we didn't get back home until after 1:30pm. it was great to finally run 13.1 miles, and visit downtown phoenix after living here for 3years. hope to do another half in May. and if anyone is wondering the RocknRoll running series are awesome so fun, great aid stations, perfect for anyone. click here for 2011 calendar http://runrocknroll.competitor.com

thanks jo for running with me, thanks cassie and tessa for training with me, and thanks spence for telling me i could do it every time i thought about dropping out, and for watching the babes.