This weekend's Fargo recap will be coming tomorrow. I thought a lot about this first weekend as I ran this past weekend and I just want to remember it all! I've worked hard for these races and I'm proud of what I have done! I ran my first half marathon on Saturday, May 24, 2010. I wrote this update immediately following that race and am resurrecting it from the archives for my own personal benefit.
I ran my first half marathon this weekend. Barring Mile 11 when my calves decided to cramp up like there was no tomorrow, I basically enjoyed my time out on the course. Not knowing what to expect or how things would go down, I feel like I made it through about the best that I could. Of course, in my mind, I can name things that I would have done differently, but I have no reason to think that those things would have actually improved my race time or benefited me in any way at the end.
I ran my first half marathon this weekend. Barring Mile 11 when my calves decided to cramp up like there was no tomorrow, I basically enjoyed my time out on the course. Not knowing what to expect or how things would go down, I feel like I made it through about the best that I could. Of course, in my mind, I can name things that I would have done differently, but I have no reason to think that those things would have actually improved my race time or benefited me in any way at the end.
This was my reaction when I looked at my clock and saw it was 4:43 in the morning. I have dubbed it my "What the heck were we thinking?!" picture. After all, if there is two things I know about myself, they are that I am not a morning person or a runner... So there is nothing more I like to do than to get up at the buttcrack of dawn and go running. Obviously.
My official race time was 2:57:56. My very first goal was to finish the race in under 2:30. The further I got into training, the more I realized that 2:45 would be a more realistic goal. At the end of the semester, when I realized that my training had been seriously compromised by a full and then some class load, I decided I wanted to finish in under 3:00. I obviously met my last goal, but the time doesn't feel good to me. I need to remember that there were many weeks where I was able to get in only one or two good runs because of my demanding class load. I finished, which I guess is what counts, but I want to do better. So I will run another race.
I wore my FiveFingers the entire race. My feet were tired at the end, but my hips and knees felt good when I finished. We encountered some rain at the beginning of the race (as in we started the race soaked) and met various puddles throughout the course. At the end of the race, my feet were quite dirty and my nail polish left a lot to be desired. I'm sorry I'm making you look at my feet, but I thought I'd show you anyhow. The pre-race rains made the temperatures glorious. I don't think we could have asked for better weather in which to run.
In all, I am glad to have this first race under my belt, but I am looking forward to running another one and seeing if I can't do better. Sometimes I wish I could be happy with myself, but I am glad that I enjoyed myself like I did and still have the desire to do better. Bismarck-Mandan, here I come!
PS- I was right when I said I wasn't one and done! I've run two more since (including this past weekend) and I know I still have more in me. This half business is actually pretty fun!
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