Wednesday, October 15, 2008

Half-Marathon #2 - Check!

It's a GREAT day to run a race!!! Started off the morning getting some last minute pointers from Coach Kelli, who called at 6 am to talk me through some of my last minute questions!!! I had painted my nails "victory red" the night before to get myself ready!!! Sort of like how Tiger Woods always wears red on Sundays! :)
Beth & Addison were at my house at 6:10 am!!! That's TRUE friendship - when your friend is willing to get up SO early to drive with you to the race!!! Addison was so good too - she just went with the flow!
Always got to have a picture at the port-o-potty stop!! It was a bit breezy that early, so I threw on my long-sleeved race shirt before I had to head over to the start. It felt good to put that back on after the race too. I LOVE the free shirts that I get at these races!
The cheerleader (Beth) and the racer (Katy). In a few more months, I expect to take this same picture except that BETH will be the racer, and I'll be cheering HER on!! :)
And they're off! I saw Beth for the first time at Mile 1! (Kelli - see the lady in front of me in the light blue tank and the blue skirt? This is the lady that said she was running the full marathon next weekend (this weekend now) in San Francisco. She was driving me crazy - kept speeding up and passing me, then slowing down...back and forth. GRRR!

This was me passing Beth at Mile 7. It was good to see her again. This race was on base, so it was pretty isolated. Not NEARLY the crowds like we had for Shamrock because it was restricted access. That made seeing Beth even MORE of a boost. In this picture, I was throwing her some Gu packetes (electrolyte stuff) to hold on for me for later. The two ladies to my right I ran with for almost the whole race. We met up with each other at about Mile 2. We all realized that our pacers were running WAY faster than they should have, so we hung steady and watched our time. We were trying to stay right at a 9:00 minute pace, and so the three of us hung together until the very end (when I thought I was going to die!). It was a fast pace - and I know I couldn't have held on as long as I did without these ladies. The lady in the middle is in her 50s - talk about inspirational. I hope I can still do these when I'm 50!! incredible!
Doesn't this picture say it all? This was at the finish. For anyone that thinks running is easy, this picture pretty much sums up how I was feeling for the last 2.5 miles. Total gut check. Willing myself to keep running. I ran a very fast pace - one that I'd never been able to do for that long. So by the end, I was VERY tired. But I was too stubborn to stop and walk - I wanted to run every last step. It was quite the mental challenge towards the end. Not even any energy to smile for the cameras anymore!

I got my medal! It was worth it! I finished in 2:00:39. Almost 14 minutes faster than my time for Shamrock. More than a minute faster per mile (in running world, that's a lot!). I was very proud of myself. It was a harder race, because I pushed myself much harder. But it felt so good. And was so fun! And who knew I'd beat David's time from his race!! Go figure!

Addison seemed to love the race too! Beth had her all bundled up and cozy for the morning hours!
Checking the official race time with my running friend, Stephanie. She cheered me on for the last 1/2 mile. She had already finished (she's WAY fast), and came back to find me. I SO needed that boost - she was GREAT!
Here's my "local" coach - Stephanie. We run every Tuesday morning, and while those wee early hours are rough, we are always SO glad to do it once we get started!

It was such a fun atmosphere afterwards - they had face painting, inflatables, and food for everyone. (not the most delicious food probably, if you ask anyone else. But it tasted awfully good to me!!!) The kids love it. It's an amazing atmosphere - can't really describe it. So supportive of everyone, so much fun. I just love it.
Josiah chose the Spiderman web-shooting "stance" for his face painting.

Later that night, the Williams' came over for dinner and to relax! Callie was VERY happy to LOVE on Addison some more!





8 comments:

anthonyandbeth said...

i'm so happy i was able to be there for your big day! it was inspiring to me to watch you, be your cheerleader, and see how all this race stuff works! :) you did an amazing job! love the picture of you coming to the finish line! just shows it's not "easy" and that you worked hard! you did it Katy, your second 1/2 marathon in a year! can you believe that? imagine what your faithful Christmas card readers are going to think when they find out what you and David have been up to! :) i love that Callie loves babies! SO glad we could come and hang out Sun. night and celebrate with Fried Chicken! i hope it was a yummy as it sounded. you deserved it! :)

Jen said...

Your picture crossing the finish line is how I feel after 5 minutes of running. Way to go - I have no doubt you'll be doing this when your 50, but that's a long way off. I have to say the little bunny was quite a cute fan!

Vonda said...

Congratulations Katy!!! GO GIRL!!! How awesome is that that you have run 2 big races in such a short time! And your time is FABULOUS!!! I know Beth thoroughly enjoyed cheering you on...you are an inspiration to us all. I'm only up to 4 miles but just reading your post makes me want to run 5 tonight!!! And I think little Addison is about the cutest little fan you could have. Oh she is such a doll! And I sure hope you enjoyed every bite of that FRIED CHICKEN! That's the way to CELEBRATE!

Courtney said...

awesome, katy!!! i'm so proud of you!!!

Judy said...

Wow!! I was thinking about you!! What an incredible accomplishment! You look fantastic!!

The Stein Family said...

You are awesome!

the mccollums... said...

you are my hero!!!! COngrats...I love all the pics Katy, (great job Beth!!) I am so proud of you...I am also glad to click on your blog and not see that scary spider anymore! JK...so proud of you and the strength that you have each and every run! Now I really need to hug your neck at homecoming weekend!!

Natalie said...

Check out the muscles in those legs. You are Ironwoman!!!!