1/2 Marathon Finisher

That's me!!!

and Jer, who was such a trooper and lagged behind with me. Our time was 1 hour 51 minutes, about 8:32 pace/mile. Obviously he could have ran it at a much faster pace, but this being my first half marathon he wanted to finish with me.

Overall I felt really good. The beginning of the race was so intense. We made sure to get up to the start line early, which required a 4:45 alarm, but that didn't stop me. We stayed warm with our trusty sheets and when it was near start time we were right there at the start line. This year there were a few small bands along the race route. At about 1.5 miles there was drum group, which was totally awesome and definitely got me pumped up. Before I knew it we were at mile 3. They had kind of a weird interchange for the marathon and half marathon to split and then we were past the point of no return. At about mile 11 some serious hip pain started to set in, but I really just pushed through it. We stopped to walk at 2 or 3 water stops, but only long enough to drink. Finally we were on State Street and it was a long, straight pull to the South Temple from 700 South. I had to stop and walk a couple of times to let my hip rest a bit, but once we were to the top of State it was all downhill. The best part of the race was coming around the corner on to the Main Street of The Gateway. I felt like I was floating over the ground and running at the speed of light, then I saw my Mom and Step dad and I just started bawling. Don't worry this is a normal reaction for me during a runners high. I was really excited to see them there rooting for me.

After we finished the race we stopped in the finisher area and drank chocolate milk (great after run beverage), ate Creamie popsicles and tried to check our times. Then we were off to the showers to primp a bit and meet Mom & Rod for lunch at California Pizza Kitchen. I will say that I think I had a pretty good excuse for eating like a dang pig, but man was it good.

All in all this was a wonderful experience. I'm so glad that I could share it with my husband. He is my biggest supporter. He is always encouraging me and telling me how good I'm doing. Now when is the next race....