Total Fitness Connection Half Marathon (3/22/14)

Dear Gage and Gabe,

On Saturday March 22, I ran the Total Fitness Half Marathon in Bowling Green. I love this race. It's a local small race that has us run through the back roads of Warren County. I have participated in this race several times and this makes the third year in a row (I wasn't able to run it in 2011 since I had just had you, Gage, that January). This year I decided that I wanted to try for a PR. My best half marathon time was in September 2011 at the Women's Half Marathon in Nashville. My running pal Therisa kept me going that race and I finished with a time of 1:58:40. The past few races that I ran were completed with times around 2:02 or so, so I had a hefty goal in mind.

I felt really good the morning of the race. I didn't have any pre-race jitters, which was very unusual for me. It was a little overcast and around 50 degrees. I started the race, weaving in and out of runners until I got some space. My RunKeeper app said I was running an 8 minute mile at the half mile mark. By the time I got to the mile mark, I was at an 8:10 pace. This was a lot faster than I had anticipated, and a lot faster than I was used to. By the time I got to the two mile mark, I was running at an 8:27 pace and still feeling really good. I decided to keep on at that pace for as long as I was able.

Dada brought you all to the intersection of Matlock Rd and Hwy 242 so you all could watch me pass through. I got to see you all when I was coming back from the turn around point. It was so great to see my little cheerleaders!

Hey guys!

Giving kisses to my cheerleaders

By the time I got to 10 miles, I was starting to get tired. I only had a 5K to go, so I kept on. I crossed the finish line with a time of 1:51:37 a full 7 minutes under my previous PR. I had knocked that PR out of the park! I finished 46th overall (out of 189) and 4th in my age group. What a great race!

Finished!

Thanks for cheering me on!

I love you,
Mommy