My very exciting and busy half marathon weekend began with a great shake out run with Mr. S. The Fall Festival has a kids marathon, senior marathon, 4 mile run/walk, 10k, and half marathon. The kids & senior marathons go all summer with the final mile being on part of the race course and ends at the same finish line! It's very exciting for everyone to see these littles run. Mr. S. is not a sporty kid (he is super smart!) but he wanted to run this and I'm proud of him for sticking with it. He got to run the last little bit of the race with one of his great friends. His friend happens to be one of my best friends little guy and then she & I were running the half together the next day. It was so neat to see our little guys run together. The best part was when Mr. S reached up, patted his friend on the back, and said "It's just you and me!". I almost cried!
The next morning I got up at the crack of dawn & got ready for my big race! My pre-race breakfast always consists of a cup of black coffee and a gf cupcake from a local bakery. The cupcake I had before this week was PUMPKIN!! It tasted like a pumpkin roll and it was AMAZING!!!!!!! In case I haven't told you I had a goal to set a PR (person record). I wanted to run a 2:20 half. Not super fast but it is fast for me! I read something once that said "Look in the mirror. That is your only competition!". I have taken that to heart. I'm never going to run a sub 2 hr half. I'm not super fast. I have short legs and a mental block (which I'm working on). But I'm ok with that! All I can do is MY best and give it MY all! So before I left my sweet kitty, Brady, gave me a good luck kiss!
And I was off. I picked up Kellie and another friend of ours and we met up with the rest of our running group for our annual picture and a pre-race pump up! We then toed the line (or rather got in my corral towards the back) for a 8:20 am start time. I decided to stick with the 2:20 pace group. It would keep me focused on someone and I wouldn't have to watch my Garmin the entire time. I could just run and be happy. For the first 10 miles everything went great! My friend and I were chatting off and on and taking in the sights. I was keeping up and feeling good. I don't know what happened at mile 10 but my body just started failing and then my mind told me to quit. I think part of my problem was that I drank Gatorade during the run. And that upset my stomach. Somewhere around mile 11.5 I told my friend "Leave me" but she wouldn't! I felt extremely sick to my stomach. I had the same issue last year too. So Gatorade on race day is a no for me! Miles 10-13 were extremely hard! I walked some and cried some and ran slowly. I struggled so badly through those last 3 miles. So much so that my sweet bff laid hands on me to pray. I even stopped to hug (and cry on) another bff of mine!
As soon as we turned the corner to go into the stadium (where the finish line was), I got it set in my mind that I was going to push to the end. So I started to pray and point to Jesus and tell him it was for HIM! I pushed myself across that finish line with an official time of 2:24:54.
I may not have hit the 2:20 I was hoping for but I'm SO excited to have a PR. I have done something that not everyone can say they have! I have run my 3rd half marathon and set a PR. My family and I went out that night to celebrate! I will be back out there next year to get that elusive 220!!
Thank you to everyone who volunteered for this race! This is an awesome race if you are in the area in Sept! You MUST do it! A HUGE thank you to Mr. J for the love and support while I trained for this. Another HUGE thank you to my favorite running partner, Kellie, who constantly pushes me and cheers me on. I can't wait for our next adventure! And THANK YOU to all of you for cheering me on and following me on this journey! I can't wait to share with you all what my next running adventure will be!!
Love, Lacey
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