I had been power walking for the last year so I knew getting back running would not be to hard. So slowly I went about training. I really did not run more the once a week until the end of the summer. Then I would run twice a week maybe every other week. The end of September came and I got the cold from hell. I was starting to get pretty worried since I could not even breath.... I did not run or hardly even walk for 3 weeks. Finally I started to feel better with one week to go. I had not run longer then 7 miles all summer. So the Sunday before the race while we were camping I decided that I needed to run 10 miles. I managed to do it so I felt much better about the race. What is 3 more miles...
October 16 came and it was race day! I was very excited. Amy, Jese and my boss Wayne were also going to run the race. It was a perfect day. The weather could not have been nicer with little to no wind and in the low 60's by the end of the race.
Jese, Amy and I are all smiles before the start of the race.
Amy and I have a long history of running races together and we always have to take a picture.
Wayne my boss told me it was on his bucket list to run a half marathon so I told him he should sign up for it. Well he did and had been cursing my name every since. He did great and ending up beating me by 6 minutes.
This Jese around mile 6, he was still running strong
Rick and Christa did not see me at mile 6 until I was right next to them so they did not get any pictures of me. The picture above is right before the finish line. I guess I was just running to fast for them :)
Amy was all smile for the whole race. She even got a good luck hand slap from Oliver on the way.
I managed to finish the race in 2 hours 11 minutes. It is only 4 minutes slower then my last half marathon four years ago and 6 minutes slower then my best half marathon in 2008. I was very happy with that considering most of my training was power walking and not running. So now I am wondering what would happen if I really trained...I would like to get under that 2 hour mark...once I do that I can stop running...well maybe
Amy and I after the race. She came in at 2 hours 37 minutes. She had a goal of 3 hours so she was happy. And since she did not train at all only running 4 times in all of 2016 I would say that is really good! Just goes to show you running is all a mind game. If you tell yourself you are going to do it you can! I am proud of her for running it.
Jese after the race. It was his very first half marathon. In fact it was the first time he had run a race longer then a 5K. He was training hard this summer but then slacked off the last month or so. He was going to back out of the race be decided that he would do it a few days before hand. I am super glad he did. He did a great job finishing in 2 hours 21 minutes. A great time for his first big race. He will be back to run another one since he is determined to beat me next time.
The Pleasant Grove Pizza Farm was having their Fall Festival so we all headed out to it after the race. It is so fun to go out there and eat pizza and listen to some good music. It is just relaxing.
Oliver enjoyed himself. Jese got him a slingshot and he had lots of fun walking on the trails with Grandpa Rick hunting deer and trying to shoot them with peanuts :)
He also got to do a little pumpkin carving.
It really was a perfect day. I got to do something that I love doing and am proud of myself, Amy and Jese. I was happy that Rick, Christa and Oliver spent the morning cheering us on. Spending the afternoon and evening just relaxing with the people I love was a perfect way to end the day.
Remember to give someone a hug today and live for the day.
Sharon
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