Hello friends. I spent my birthday again this year running the Lake Minnetonka Half Marathon. Last year it fell on my birthday which was kind of a cool, but his year was probably more fun since my husband was able to watch me run.
It was a bit hard to navigate along the course so he unfortunately didn’t get any good pics of me running, but thanks to the photographer on site, I do have this one
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As you can see by the pic, I had a lot of fun. I honestly didn’t have any expectations going into the race since most of the week I was struggling a bit with a slight cough and cold. In fact, I hadn’t really decided to run this until Wednesday and was going to call an audible based on how I felt race day morning.
It was such a beautiful spring morning so I decided what the heck…lets go have some fun and just run for fun. I left my watch at home, plugged polar beat in my phone and pressed start as I tucked my phone out of sight and sound. I ran totally by feel!
I had fun! To my surprise, I actually felt quite strong with a good pace most of the race. Unfortunately, to my disappointment, I ended up cramping up again in my right calf and no matter what I did the last few miles, my calf was angry
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I stopped to massage & stretch a few times, but unfortunately all I could do was slow my pace which resulted in a bit slower finish time. But I finished and check out my pretty finishing shirt. Pretty color! They always have the coolest medals too!
Here are my splits: 9:20 (not real accurate since I started my timer on phone too soon), 8:30, 8:48, 8:34, 8:37, 8:28, 8:45, 8:40, 8:38, 8:50 (first cramp), 8:58 (hanging in there), 9:20 (stopped to massage), & 9:22 (had to stop again). Last year I was 7th out of 44 and this year I was:
Yes it was disappointing, but in all honestly, my friend who also ran that morning shared this with me: “It’s rare any race is perfect” “You finished in the top quarter of the female field.” “If everyone your age ran in MN the same race, you would undoubtedly be in the top 10! If not the top 5.” A bit of a stretch my friend, but THANK YOU! And I am sure you’ll be faster at my age when you get there
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Wise words from my dear husband: “It is normal to be emotional after a race. It is really hard work and you are taxed when you are done. You did great! I know you wish it was different…but that is the charm but also the scary part of racing…one never knows when it will be your day (think Des Linden at Boston) or when it won’t (think Shalane Flanigan at Boston). Shalane may have thought the day was a disaster, but she did finish 6th…and I am sure there are a lot of people proud of her that she finished. I am proud of you! Happy Birthday! Love~ Rob
And than Coach MK: “Do not despair…this race is HARRRRRRRRRD. A 1:57 is kinda frekin’ amazing
This is why I love the running community! They lift you up when you need it the MOST
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[reminder]What’s your biggest disappointment in a race? What’s your favorite race distance? [/reminder]
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