Half Marathon

Saturday I had to get up at 4:30 to get ready for the race!  I woke up a little early and couldn't fall back to sleep so I just decided to get up.  I got ready and headed out to my sister-in-laws house since we were riding together and picking up a co-worker who is also my running partner.  We got to the Soo really early and picked up our packet and starting getting ready for the race.  It was 48 degrees out and windy and sprinkling off and on.  I was so nervous as we stood around for 45 minutes or so.  My stomach was in knots and I felt like I could have gotten sick!  I think I was so nervous because it was the longest race I have done yet and in my mind I had made it into a really big deal and was starting to psych myself out.

I told Crystal (my running partner) that we should start out slow and then speed up towards the end because I was nervous about being able to finish the race, even though we had done multiple 13 mile runs and I had done fine on those.  We started out in front of Osborn Hall at LSSU which was the first dorm I lived in at College probably because it is the only freshman girls dorm at LSSU!!  I was freezing from the wind when we first started but once we got going the temperature was pretty good.  We ran over the International Bridge and back and then made our way down Portage Avenue, crossed Ashmun, and ran down past the golf course and turned around and finished at the intersection of Ashmun and Portage.

The atmosphere along the race was great!  Everyone was cheering and very friendly, it made it a lot of fun.  I really liked running across the bridge because it broke up the race and made it feel shorter.  The incline wasn't too bad on the bridge although the wind made it a bit challenging on the top of the second hill.  You really had to push yourself because of the wind. 

We had 2 people ask Crystal and I if we were sisters or running partners because we were perfectly in sync.  We finished the race in 2 hours and 53 seconds and got 3rd and 4th in our age group.  If I would have been back in my old age group of 20-29 I would have gotten first!  Bummer, oh well.  Here's the link to the official results  http://www.everalracemgt.com/results/full.php?2010/sault-area-chamber-international-marathon-half-marathon.html scroll down to see the half marathon results.

We are thinking for our next challenge of doing the Chicago Marathon next year.  It's in October which would be perfect because then we would have all spring and summer to train for it.  I'm really excited to keep pushing myself and see what I can do!