I woke up early this morning to get ready for my half marathon. I have been looking forward to this half marathon for several weeks. It fit in exactly with my marathon training. I was suppose to run a half this weekend anyways. I have also been a little worried about running it. I didnt know how my body would feel. I got ready and set out for the race. I was just hoping to be able to run without pain.
After hanging out on the school bus, we all got off and tried to stay warm in the 40 degree temperatures. I didnt know anyone else that was running the half, so I found someone that looked alone. We chatted for close to a half hour as we waited for the 45 minutes to pass. The sun finally was coming over the hill and I started to warm up. The race started promply at 8:00 a.m. with a nice little downhill. I was trying not too go too fat but it is hard not to with a slight downhill. I booked it out in less than 8 minutes for that first mile. Too fast! I slowed down for the second mile and then evened it out closer to an 8:20 pace give or take 10 seconds or so depending on the mile. I did my usual walk through the water stations because I cant drink from the cups without spliing all over myself.
I kept on running at this pace when I finally looked down at my watch. I knew my pace per mile but I didnt think about my overall time. I started doing the math and realized how I was on track to being close to my PR time. I kept going as I was feeling good. After how I have felt this last month, I didnt know I could feel this good right now. As i got closer and closer to town, I slowly increased my pace. I hit downtown and turned the corner towards the finish line. I crossed the line in about 1:48:30. This is less than a minute away from my PR! I was so excited! This is a great start to the rest of my training. I am feeling more and more ready for the New York Marathon.
