The Joplin Memorial Run

I ran my second Half Marathon on the 19th. I wasn't able to train as much as I had hoped because this spring turned out to be much busier than I had anticipated. I was able to finish the race, but it's not like I ran a PR or anything. It was also my first race with my "Anything for 10" sister.

Pre-race

Half Marathon Clan

I had a blast with my brother and sisters the day before the race. The race expo was very small, which made packet pick up a breeze. There was really only one vendor booth, but I got my hydration belt for $25!! That was a steal that I was pretty pumped about. I already love it, and I only used it during the race. The goody bag wasn't half bad either, and I got a free, sweet foldable water bottle from one of the tables at the expo. Afterward, my family and I had a delicious pasta dinner at Olive Garden. We can be a little loud at times, but we all had so much fun!

I slept well the night before, and I even went to bed about an hour early accidentally because I was so excited to get ready to run. I had no trouble waking up on time on race day, and I slowly got ready. I had a banana and half a bagel for breakfast, which I have now decided was not enough. Those of us running the half headed out on the race organized bus that took runners from the hotel and race site. We stretched, walked around, stopped at the porta-potties, and caught up with an old family friend. He is in the United States Army, and he ran the race carrying an American flag! I am proud that I know him, and I am super impressed and inspired by his fitness level!

RACE

My brother and his wife ran on their own, but my sister and I stayed together the whole way. My brother and his wife both hit a new PR! My sister and I had a good pace, about 11 minutes, through the first 6 or 7 miles, but then everything went downhill from there, but not in the good way like a downhill run. Around mile 4 I started feeling some slight pain in my left foot, which only progressively got worse...and still hurts. Remember that paragraph where I mentioned that I didn't eat enough breakfast? Yeah, I also started getting sick around mile 6, so I would throw up in my mouth and then swallow it because there were too many people around to just start puking everywhere. I had expected the aid stations to have food because some of them did at my first Half, but this time they didn't. I knew I would have to walk some, but because I was in pain and feeling sick, we walked way more than I wanted to. I looked like a giant pile of crap by the time I got to the end, and the pain was very clear when looking at me. There were random spectators who read my name off my bib and started cheering me on. I whined a lot and got pretty angry at a few points, but my sister stayed with me the whole way even though she told me later that she thought I was going to punch her, but she knew that I didn't have the strength to.

Post Race

The sisters and our cheerleader!

I am not going to lie, that race really sucked, but it didn't deter me on my path to 26.2.... it did however, deter my sister from agreeing to stay with me throughout the 26.2. I felt like crap afterward. My foot still hurts, and I am moving across the country this week, so between the two, it looks like I may be on a bit of a hiatus from running. I will be up and running and blogging as soon as possible, but I might throw up some running book reviews in the mean time if I get a chance.