Inner Monologue: Hobble Creek Half

Sunday, August 19, 2012

Hobble Creek Half

Saturday we (me, Tim, dad) ran the Hobble Creek Half Marathon. When we registered I was pregnant and thought that a half marathon four months post baby would be no big deal. Sometimes reality is a bummer. I am slowly working on getting my running mojo back, but it is amazing to me how hard it is some days. For a brief second I considered not running, then I snapped out of that quickly. I would rather be slow, walk, whatever, than to not race. As I ran I thought about the years I have had running and what a difference it has made in my life. When I started running, I didn't know anyone else who ran - I just figured it out as I went. This was my first half marathon and after making it through, decided to do a full marathon the next year. That was 12 years ago and now many, many races later, I love where it has taken me.
So, the race this year...it was hard and it hurt. The first half is almost all downhill and pretty fast. I knew when I started that I didn't feel good and was amazed that I could be working that hard and still going so slow on a downhill. I took a few walk breaks and kept skipping to my best power songs and steadily kept moving. By the second half I actually started to feel a little better, we hit the flat parts and I didn't slow down too much. A little before mile 10 my brother Jarin appeared to run with me. I knew he was going to be at the race somewhere but didn't want to expect him and be disappointed. It was so great to have him to run with me - he was a great pacer and motivated me to keep moving. Before I knew it, we were at the end. My goal had been to be under an 11:00 minute average. Normally I would be upset with that kind of time, but based on how I have been running lately, I felt like it was a good goal. My garmin was a little off because I stopped to stretch a few times, but my official time was 2:19, a 10:39 average. For this year, I will consider that a victory!