Riverboat Series Half Marathon – Louisiana
April 16, 2014
2:13:06
(Yes, this is a PR!!)
Temp: high 30s, but sunny
What I wore: hat, Bondi band, short sleeve shirt, Champion half zip, Skirt Sports Happy Girl skirt,
PROCompression socks, Brooks Essential Run jacket, gloves, and my trusty Altra Intuitions
I ROCKED this race! ROCKED.IT!
It was chilly again, but the wind was a lot milder and the course was more protected for about half of it. The course was about 1.2 miles in a lollipop shape. Half marathoners had to do 11 loops. This was one of those races where I was glad I went by the start-finish so many times, as I played yet another game of “strip half marathon.”
My first mile was rough and I thought I was going to just take it easy for this race. Then I found someone to run and chat with and I picked up the pace. After a couple of miles, I started running with a guy who runs about a 4:15 marathon and I stuck with him as long as I could. Then I played cat and mouse with a woman who was doing run/walk intervals: she pushed herself each run interval to try to catch me and I pushed myself to not let her. (Yes, we both knew what were doing and joked about it later.) I kept this pattern of finding people to keep me moving.
Suddenly, I was at mile 10 and I knew I had the potential to PR! I dropped my long sleeve shirt with Beer Geek and went to that dark and painful place you go when you are really pushing to finish strong. The other runners could tell what I was doing and I got tons of “You are flying!” “Keep it up” “Finish strong” as I pushed through the last two laps. As I headed up the “stick” of the lollipop the last time, I tossed my water bottle at Beer Geek and dug as deep as I could. I flew around the turn around and found every last little bit of energy I had and sprinted for the finish.
PR!!!! You’d think I won the race for all the cheering I got. I just love this group of runners!
The good:
- The course was paved and mostly flat.
- I found lots of people to help push me.
- I felt great! I had a smile on my face for the first 11 miles. Then I pushed it home.
The bad:
- There was no bad. I could not have asked for a better end to an awesome experience.
The ugly:
- Not a single thing. Except maybe that it was all over.
Make sure to enter my 5 things giveaway for the five half marathons in five days!!!
DONE!!!!!
Race 1 recap: Kentucky
Race 2 recap: Tennessee
Race 3 recap: Arkansas
Race 4 recap: Mississippi
I’m struggling a little with post-race let down, despite a busy day sight seeing in Memphis. I ended up on the treadmill last night for 3 miles to pull myself out of the funk I was in. Amazingly, my legs felt fresh.
I can’t wait to do it again! Who wants to join me???
Woah! That’s all I gotta say, nice work!! I’m feeling a little lazy today now… 😉
Congrats on not only completing race #5 but PRing! Absolutely amazing!
Congrats on 5 in 5 and a PR to boot. Well done!
what a PR on the last one, that’s awesome!!! I don’t think you’ll ever convince me to do this, but I love seeing you do it 🙂
You are amazing!! Congratulations! I’ve been watching your adventure and quietly cheering you on from my home. You totally rock. Way to go!
WOW! That’s pretty amazing! I just don’t know that I could do a loop 11 times – I think I would lose my mind! Congrats on the great finish!
CONGRATS!! Did I miss a picture somewhere of the whole medal? That looks so cool.
congrats! That’s a lot of half marathons!
You’ve got to be kidding me. A PR after all those races? That’s insanely awesome! You freaking rock!
You are AMAZING!!! 5 half marathons, 5 days in a row and you PR on the 5th day?! AWESOME!!! Great job!!! I could feel the joy and exciting just reading this recap – you should be super proud of yourself!!
I was on a huge runners high afterwards. It was such an awesome feeling to finish the last race in a sprint.
I still can’t believe you PR’d your last of five races. That’s just NUTS!!!!! Congratulations again!
I know. It was kind of crazy.
Woohoo! You go girl! You finished strong – know that dark deep place very well! You welcomed it and conquered it! Congrats!
Thanks! I usually avoid that place but I really wanted this PR!
I cannot believe you PR’ed on the 5th hm in 5 days! That is incredible!!!
It was kind of shocking to feel better on the last day than on the first LOL.
I’ve really enjoyed following your 5 for 5 trip… I’m debating trying one of their series at some point, so I appreciate you sharing your journey. Congrats on your PR!
You should do it! They are so much fun! I’m planning to do parts of two more and then do Center of the Nation in 2015.