A 1/2 to remember

I forgot to turn off my garmin as I crossed the finish line...straight for water and pizza!

Mixed emotions upon arriving to the running event…Very excited that I finally get to run my first 1/2 which I thought at one point was not in the cards, and yet anxious..thinking what have I got myself into? As I headed to the start line, they indicated “runners in the front, walkers in the back”…so I stayed at the front…big mistake, should have proceeded to the middle of the pack…The gun went off and the elite runners in the front took off like scared rabbits, dragging my poor rear behind them….Holy Smokes, where is the fire!! Looking at my Garmin…I was way above my pace that I usually run…I need to back off if I expect to make it to the finish line….

I ran 11k without stopping, felt great…at the turn around point, thought me little legs need a short break .. its was a beautiful flat course, along the flooded banks of the river…So many things I enjoyed, the smell of the spuce trees as we ran along the wooded trail, the beauty of the water and the sun came out and was shining down on us…what an awesome day!

About 15k my itband started to whisper a little to me, so I slacked off..found I was pushing myself and yet had to stop and walk some, to give my leg a deserved break…It would have been nice to complete this run in 2:00 hrs….As I was running, the pacer bunny of 2:OO hours came up and passed me, trying to keep her pace…It was a bit beyond me at this point…At about 17 k another pacer came along…2:10…hmmm lets try this…I kept with him, at one point the wind came up and his bunny ears almost flew off his head, it made a nice laugh along the way…starting up a bit of a grade, I stopped…”come one, we’re almost there”…he said…”I’ll catch up”..at the top of the grade, he was ahead of me..looking back and waving his arms…telling me to come on…So I sprinted and caught up…at this point there was only about 2k to go..thinking what’s 2 k?..but after running 19..it was hard to keep pushing..but no stopping now….As I approached the chip mat…I ran acrossed it, only to realize it was for the full marathon! oops!..mistake number 2! proceeded to the 1/2 mat..thank god it recorded time….

This run was fantastic…I did find that the chip markings were the only thing not marked so well…A very elite runner came flying in for his full at 2:35! missing the marathon mat and proceeded to the 1/2 mat…I think he may have lost a minute or two…no big deal to me, but for a guy running so hard and doing such a fantastic job, I felt bad for him…however he came in first and did one heck of a job.

After the run, I found my pace bunny…gave him a nice hug and thanked him for pushing me through, explaining it was my first 1/2 and I really needed that push…

Decided to wear my kilt for this event to celebrate the run…It was fun and alot of people really took a shining to my kilt…

A Fantastic day and a awesome run, one that I will be remembering for a very long time…I love firsts…Another item to check off my bucket list

Running is so amazing!

finished time 2:10:09….Not the best, but I’ll take it….now I have something to work on