Bread Run Half Marathon Recap

I finished my second half marathon! 

I don't know why I'm twisting so hard. But that was me sprinting to the finish. 

Unfortunately, I was mislead into believing that I'd get a medal for the half. Nope! I got a lapel pin with the 5k finishers. But at least my bib says half marathon. 

A photo with everyone that I know who ran the 5k. the small thing that i'm holding up is the lapel pin. 

But the race was excellent. Despite no medals. There was post race chocolate milk handed out by a pageant queen. Milk tastes better when it's handed to you by a pretty person. :) And I also got a post race massage, which ended sooner than what I needed (all afternoon). And despite it being a small race, 85 people ran the half, the organization was excellent. There were digital time displays at about four locations, and I was able to run and drink because they handed out small water bottles rather than cups. The course was also completely closed to traffic. One bad part was that because the race was so small, I was mainly alone most of the time. 

So coming in to the race, my main goal was to have fun. I would have liked to beat my time from the Oak Tree, but I had no high hopes since I barely got in one day of running per week in the days leading up to the race. But I finished at 2:07:23 which is 9:44 min/mile  and a PR by about 6 minutes. I was very surprised since the day was so hot and the race started at 10:30AM. Running 13.1 miles in the blazing sun with no shade = not so fun. 

Look at all that sun. And see my bike shorts peeking out from underneath my usual running shorts? Best idea ever! No chafing. 

Did I mention that I started off slowly than I normally do? That was frustrating but awesome. I started wishing I was dead a lot later than I did at the Oak Tree. It started getting super hard around mile 9.

Look at the girl right behind me. She was also in my age group and came in 3 seconds behind me. 

Overall, I feel awesome and can't wait to do another one. I even feel less sore than I did after the Oak Tree. Actually, yesterday, I started getting a headache (probably from exerting myself in the heat) so I took two Advila. After an hour or so, I noticed that I had no soreness in my legs. I was so happy, thinking that my foam rolling and my superior physical shape has reduced the soreness. But that night as the soreness came back, I remembered the Advil. :( One day, I will be fit enough to run a strong half and also not feel sore. 

And to help you guys have a great Monday, here's a pic from I<3 to run on facebook. It's the story of my life.