Women's Half Marathon 2012

It’s been over a week, but I’m finally getting to blog about the Women’s Half Marathon in St. Pete!

First of all, the weather could not have been more perfect. The cloud cover kept the sun away while a nice breeze kept us cool. It was actually too cool before we started, but after a mile we were grateful for it.

Alyssa, my dear cousin, stayed with me during this race just like the Halloween Half three weeks prior. We chatted the entire time again (can you tell we are thisclose?) and missed most of the mile markers. That is the best way to run a race if you can, in my opinion.

The only drawback was at the starting line. The corrals fed from the front. Meaning when we tried to get into corral 2, everyone had crowded to the front to the point that there was a line to get in. We had to elbow our way through the bodies, which is awkward and rude, but the only way we could get in. The space is always in the back of the corral, where they usually feed in people for races. So I gave some feedback when an email came.

Overall, this race felt so great. Even better than the Halloween Half, and that race felt good almost all the way to the end. This time, Alyssa and I actually sprinted the last quarter mile. I haven’t been able to do that for a long time. Again, training really does help!

This is the only pic I managed to take because we were so busy talking. I love the part where we get to run through Tropicana Field. They played “We Are The Champions” as we circled inside. So cool.

Usually, I feel like crap by this point because it’s mile 11. But I didn’t feel terrible, and when we got out of the Trop, we even started speeding up on the downgrade following 1^st Ave South to the waterfront. We finished our sprint at 2:18:34. Just about 3 ½ minutes off my PR.

When I saw the race results, I was shocked to see that we had a 10:34 average. That’s great for me! We even stopped for a three-minute bathroom break. Meaning the average when we actually ran was more like 10:20s. When we stopped to take the picture, I took three because the first two weren’t great, so that may have been about a 45 second stop as well.

In my mind, that means I have a pretend PR. If we didn’t have to stop for the bathroom (which we both desperately needed) or for the pic, I just might have beaten 2:14:49. But it’s okay because we probably would’ve done worse if we hadn’t stopped.

Alyssa and I are signed up for the Rock N Roll Half in St. Pete in February. So excited that she’s doing yet another race with me!

I’m thinking about doing another marathon. THINKING about it. Not sure that I’ll be ready next year, but feeling so great after two halfs in a row made me start thinking. And that’s where it always starts.