A Great Day for a Race!
Well, as I stated in my previous post, I woke up bright and early this morning to…NO RAIN! Woo hoo! The skies were pretty overcast, but it was actually the perfect morning for a long run– cloudy, cool, and no wind!
The race was in downtown Shreveport, along the banks of the Red River. The course was a flat, out-and-back route that winds through parks and wooded areas. Very pretty for a race!
I was definitely feeling the pre-race jitters!
My family (husband, parents, sister, and brother-in-law) was running the 5K that started 15 minutes after the half-marathon, so they walked me to the starting point, and I was off!
I didn’t want to go too fast at the beginning and wear myself out, so I hung back, which definitely ended up being the right decision. I started pretty slow, but then towards mile 8, I still felt great, and started passing people who were starting to slow down. By mile 11, I was still feeling great, and was able to push hard through to the end!
My finishing time: 2:02 24!
All in all, I’m very pleased! I was hoping I might be able to do it in under 2 hours, but honestly, my training has kind of gotten a little *ahem* less regular in the past three or four weeks, due to bad weather, traveling, and general laziness on my part. So, while I think I could have done a little better if I had really buckled down in the three weeks leading up to the race, generally, I’m happy!
My sweet family had made signs for me as a suprise!
Too funny!
Here I am with the hub:
All in all, it was a great morning, and a great race. I was SO disappointed when it looked like it was going to storm– I couldn’t believe that all that training was going to have been for nothing! I’m really glad that I was able to get out there and run the race– even though I ran the 13.1 miles in training runs, it just feels different on race day!
Hope you’re having a good day…I’ll be back with a lunch post, and a recap of our visit to the farmer’s market we went to after the race.
See ya!
What a great accomplishment! And you look just as good after the race as before it . . . to borrow a phrase I’ve heard a million times in the past few weeks, “You totally don’t look like you just ran 13 miles!” My plan is to do one in the spring with my sister, who just ran her first full a few weeks ago. We’ll see . . .
Also, this blog is so awesome — really inspirational! It’s definitley become required reading for me and even makes me want to do a blog of my own — though I can’t say what about or when I’d have time — maybe when Lucy’s like 25
And, it’s great to see that yr doing vegetarianism in such a healthy and creative way. It’s so easy[ier] to just say, “okay, I’m not eating any more meat” and just cut it out, which is totally what I did as a high school / college veggie — 8 years of fruits, veggies, and carbs, carbs, and more carbs. Never ate anything as yummy or healthful as what you’ve shared with us so far. So, while I won’t be going back veg with you, I’ll cheer you on from the sidelines and try out lots of yr recipes.
Love to you, Ryan, and the pups (who made you a great race poster, btw) . . .
Aww, thanks Sarah! I’m so glad that you’re reading the blog! It’s already been a really fun project (and has given me something to do with all our Altoona free time
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Lucy is so cute!! We are always so happy to see pictures of her on Facebook…y’all make such a cute family
That’s awesome that your sister did a full– it’s funny, because a half marathon seemed totally doable to me, even before I started training, and the idea of a full still just seems absurd to me! But maybe one day…
Tell Pat, Lucy, Doug, and Piper that we said hello…hope y’alll have a good holiday…we miss y’all!
Congratulations! What an amazing accomplishment!
I have a lot of respect for anyone who can commit to training for and running 13.1 miles.
I also love the signs your family is holding up!
Congrats! I am so happy it didn’t rain, and you did so well! How thoughtful of your family to make signs. I think it is so cool that you all participated in the race (doing one event or the other).
Thanks, Kim! I was SO glad that it didn’t rain…that would have been a huge disappointment!
My family was very sweet to make signs…although it was a little embarassing
No one else had a cheering section quite as loud as mine…and the race wasn’t very many people, so they REALLY stood out in the crowd, haha.