First Half Maraton

I completed my first half marathon this last Saturday in Trout Lake, Washington. It is about 3 hours from here, and right at the base of Mt. Adams. It was such a beautiful area! I would love to post pictures, but I forgot my camera. I know, silly me. I was a bit nervous about my race, so I was somewhat forgetful while I was packing. I did check, (several times) that I had remembered my running shoes. And then when we were about an hour into our drive, had a moment of panic that I had not packed matching running shoes! I checked, and was okay. I did realize after we arrived, (I traveled with my running partner) that I had forgotten not only the camera, but my toothbrush and body wash. I know, genius.

The morning of the race was chilly, but the forecast was for 65 degrees and sunny. We went out and picked up our race packets, and then drove the course. We took note of a few (seemingly) small hills, but nothing that should make much difference.

The race itself started off very well. The plan was to run about 8:30 min miles. The first 7 miles were just under that, so I was doing great. At mile 8 there was a long gradual uphill that we really hadn't noticed in the car driving the course, but could certainly feel at that point. So I slowed down a little to about a 9:15 mile. At mile 10 everything started to hurt. I was pushing through as best I could, and then my head started spinning too. Oh boy. To add to the enjoyment of this stretch, there was a rancid smell of some kind of animal poop. Since we were passing several farms including a llama farm, it was hard to know who to blame this awful smell on, (my bet is the llamas). Not that it matters. It did give me something else to mentally complain about besides my legs feeling like lead. So, here I am, legs hurting, head spinning, stomach churning, not sure if I was going to pass out, puke, or both. I finally decided to walk-just from one shadow to the next. I knew if I didn't put a limit on it, I wouldn't want to start back up. So just about 50 feet, and I started back up, dragging my legs. Miles 10-11 ended up being about 10:15 pace. At mile 12, I really pushed as hard as I could to the finish.

I wanted to finish under 2 hours. That was my big goal. I came in at 2:02:02, (seriously). I didn't quite make my goal, but it is still a good time for a first half. It works out to be a 9:15 mile average. I ended up placing 4th in my age group, and 13th overall for the women.

After the race I was pretty sure I didn't want to run another half, at least not for quite a while. Now, two days later, I am already thinking maybe I should try for the Rock 'n Roll Seattle in June.