Wrap-up: 13 half marathons in 2013

When I originally decided to do 13 in 2013, my goal was to do 13 races of any distance, virtual and IRL combined.  Then I missed my first race of the season due to injury and decided that I’d do all half marathons.  I still planned to do a mix of virtual and real and, in fact, ran two virtual half marathons prior to the five half marathons in five days.  But when you finish your main goal for the year (5 in5) in March, well, you can go a little crazy.

There are things I would have done differently – not running much at all in July and August came back to bite me when I realized my first fall half marathon was in October.  Most of the time I was smart – I didn’t treat every race as a race and instead went into them considering them a long run with lots of friends. ;o)  I only raced three of the thirteen:  Frederick, Heritage, and Richmond.  Interestingly, my finish time for all 3 was 2:14:xx.  Guess that’s my goal to beat for 2014.

1. Dust Bowl Series: Texas
2. Dust Bowl Series:Oklahoma
3. Dust Bowl Series: Kansas
4. Dust Bowl Series: Colorado
5. Dust Bowl Series: New Mexico
6. Flying Pirate Half Marathon
7. Frederick Half Marathon
8. North Face Endurance Trail Half Marathon
9. Heritage Half Marathon
10. Richmond Half Marathon
11. Potomac River Run Half Marathon
12. Rehoboth Beach Half Marathon
13. Gar Williams Half Marathon

Fastest Race: 2:14:21 – Richmond Half Marathon (closely followed by Heritage Half at 2:14:37 and Frederick at 2:14:30)

Slowest Race: 2:35:56 – Second day of the Dust Bowl Series in Guymon, OK

Best Bling: Rehoboth and Dust Bowl

Worst Bling: Gar Williams had nothing and Potomac River run was pretty unexciting (and it appears I’ve lost the medal LOL)

Best Shirt: Frederick – half zip!

Worst Shirt: Dust Bowl Series – cotton, white, and kind of ugly.  But I do love the sticker I had made.

Best Course: Frederick – This course wound its way through Frederick and was just a lovely course with very slightly rolling hills.  I’m looking forward to doing it again in May.

Worst Course: Gar Williams – muddy/icy; slight uphill on the back into the wind, boring as all heck

Easiest Course: Middle race for Dust Bowl – For some reason, this looped course with rolling hills just worked for me.

Most challenging course: North Face Half – it was beautiful but it was HARD!  Hot, muddy, and hilly + 1.5 miles too long

Highlights:

• Running not just one, but two, half marathons with my dad
• Girls’ weekend with some of the awesomest running ladies ever
• Not just finishing five half marathons, but finishing them smiling and with a bunch of new friends
• Accomplishing something I never thought I could do

This was an amazing adventure!  There were some low moments, there were some high moments, but most of the time it was all about the fun and the people and the adventure.  I’m so very thankful for the supporting cast who made it happen:  Beer Geek, Shoo, Jones, my mom and dad, G, Kim, Tonia, my boss, and innumerable running buddies, both friends and strangers.  I can’t wait for 2014!