First race post baby. I have a long way to go. I honestly don't think I could have gone much faster than I went today. Considering that I did this course about 18 minutes faster last year, I get kinda overwhelmed thinking how far I have to go.... But, I'm respecting the fact that I had a baby 8 weeks ago and I'm grateful I have been able to jump back into running so quickly.
Now that the disclaimer is over, here's another... :) I had a free entry into this race from last year. When I realized the race date was so close to my due date, I told myself if I was able to run through my pregnancy (check) and have an uncomplicated delivery (check), I'd do the race. Well, it happened. It was hard but it happened. The goal was just to finish strong and give it all I had. I felt like I did both.
I don't know my exact time and here's why. I think I started my garmin to early? (maybe back at the portapotties?! Geez! 1/2 mile, really?) Or I am horrible at running straight. Maybe a little bit of both. I wasn't able to stick around after the race due to a nursing baby so I didn't see my official results. When they are online, I will update.
The longest run I ran leading up to this race was last Saturday, 9.5 miles. I knew it would be hard but I also knew I could do it. My plan was to take it easy the first few miles and gradually increase my speed. I felt great until about mile 10 and then started to feel the lack of training. I kept telling myself, "if I can make it through natural childbirth, I can finish this dang thing!" I tried not to look at my watch because according to it, the race should have ended well before it did.
Here are my splits: 8:38, 8:38, 8:14, 8:52 (and there's the hill!), 8:19, 8:20, 8:29, 8:21, 8:01, 7:57, 7:47, 7:28, 7:29, 3:35
My average pace was 8:09. So how that translates into a 1:50 half, I don't know. I'll be interested to see the official time,especially since I passed the 1:50 pacer at least 2 miles before the race ended. Hmmmm... Then again, I was never very good at math.
Its a good starting point for me. Its good to know where my fitness is at and I'm excited to get better and faster.
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