Smashing Barriers at the Columbus Half Marathon

Sunday was the big day! After 12+ weeks of training, my sister and I ran the Nationwide Columbus 1/2 Marathon. My sister reminded me of the long road of training that we had after the race yesterday. She talked me into running the 1/2 marathon when we were at the beach this summer on our family vacation. That was the beginning of July!!!! It is yet another reminder of how fast time goes by!!!

We got up at 5:30 on Sunday morning for the race. Unfortunately, there was a traffic jam at our exit and we never made it to our corrals. Even though we were rushing to get to the start line, we still had time for a pre-race picture:

We took off with the overwhelmingly large crowd towards the back of the pack. It wasn't until mile 5 that I felt like I had space to move. I spent a lot of time on sidewalks in the first five miles of the race. Not fun! I am just thankful that I didn't fall off of any curbs!! At mile 5 I also started to feel strange and unfamiliar pains throughout my body. I am not sure whether to contribute it to just normal running pains or old age... :) I also noticed the hill for the first time between mile 11 and mile 12. It didn't seem to be that awful the first two times I ran this race. Maybe they just had it put in??? Needless to say, this was a mental race for me. I had a goal that I wanted to achieve and I wasn't going to let large crowds or pains get in my way!

My goal going into the race was to run it in under 1 hour and 50 minutes. The last time I ran a half marathon I ran it in approximately 1 hour and 52 minutes, (I say approximately because my time chip didn't work. Talk about aggravating!!!) so I wanted to beat my previous barrier. Well, I SMASHED the barrier, and I am stoked about it. I ran it in 1 hour 45 minutes and 2 seconds. (Of course, I am thinking if I wouldn't have slowed down at so many water stations I could've knocked off those two seconds! Never satisfied am I???) My sister also smashed her barrier as well by five minutes. Her goal was to run it in under 2 hours and she ran it in 1 hour 54 minutes and 41 seconds. So proud of her!!!

Here we are all smiles after the race!!!

Can I just say that I love running!?! Even though it was physically (and mentally) a tough race, I look forward to my next race. Someday I will take on a full marathon, but I have some other things to do first. :) I also don't feel like I can talk about running without thanking the man who gave me my running genes, my dad!!! Thanks, dad! We really wish you could've been with us yesterday!!! Maybe next time???