Mankato Half Marathon

The day began at 6am with a protein bar and some energy gel.  It ended with a feeling of accomplishment, a full belly from a celebration meal with my running buddies and some stiff legs.  The stuff in between is just details.

Unfortunately, the weather wasn’t the best (light drizzle) but the temperature was decent.  I totally forgot that the roads were going to be closed off around the start line since the 10k would have already started, so we had a hairy start.  The lines for the bathrooms were incredibly long and I couldn’t find my friends or the pacer I was looking for.  I told my dad while waiting in line for the biffy that I didn’t think I could run it without them (I’m not nearly as mentally tough as I was last year, nor am I in the same condition.)  Somehow, I managed to run it all and do better than expected.  Granted, I’ll never run a 1:55 half marathon again, but my foot is different now, so I need to accept it and be proud of what I CAN do.  Which is a hell of a lot!

Official Time: 2:15

My best running friends!! Thanks to Gretchen for all those training runs (and Jamie even drove down from the cities to run with us once!!!)  They were only a couple of minutes behind me, but I just couldn’t find them.

Don’t worry Sport Pix, you’ll get your ca$h.  This is actually a good photo of us.  My Dad kicked my butt by one whole minute! Way to go, Dad!

Thanks to my family for running around like crazy people trying to cheer me on!!  I saw them twice (and missed them a couple more times.)  Kevin was using my iPad to track me (since I run with my iPhone for music and my ipad & iphone are on the same apple id, etc etc crazy technological stuff involving portable hotspots and GPS signals,) but I ended up being faster than the signal updated and they didn’t make it in time twice.  Oh well.  When I saw them at mile 11 in Sibley Park, I really needed that hug that Jack gave me.  I was choked up for about a  block afterward.  All in all, it was a good day! Unfortunately, I paid the price for about a week afterward with Bronchitis and a sinus infection.