Little Rock Half Marathon

We are traveling back to Little Rock this weekend for my dear friend Ailini's baby shower and the drive has me thinking about the race a couple weeks ago. I haven't a chance to post about it and I am sure you all are on pins and needles, so here it goes.

I won't say much about the race expo or the race course because I didn't stay at the expo long enough to have an opinion and I think the half course could do a better job showcasing the city. I will say that the organizers and volunteers were SO nice! The race really has a small town feel, which I loved.

And now .... drum roll please... the race. First, lets talk about the goals I had planned for this race: 1. Negative splits; 2. stay positive; and 3. Finish under 1:55.

I am not sure how close I came to the first goal, but I managed to maintain even splits for the entire race, except for mile 12. During mile 12, I was beginning to be delirious and got confused on the race signs. I thought I was closer to the finish than I was and believed I actually had a chance to finish under 1:50, which resulted in me running my 12th mile in 7:40 - much faster than my pace during the rest of the race. It just goes to show that the mind is a powerful powerful thing! Once I saw the actual 12th mile marker I slowed back down to my planned pace. With the 7:40, I technically did have negative splits.

Hmm, did I stay positive?? At times. Other times I had to work really really hard to keep the negative thoughts at bay. I never wanted to stop and walk but I had to resist the constant "this course sucks" mentality.

Oh yea, and that last goal? CRUSHED IT!! Final time 1:50:46. I hope you guys don't think I am gloating over here, (OK, maybe a little), it's just that this is so much better than my previous times and I am not sure quite where it is coming from.

When it comes to running, I know all about things feeling too far out of reach. When I first started running again as an adult and one of my friends talked about running 3 miles at a 10:00/mile pace I thought, man if I could do that I would be happy. Then, my dad told me how he ran 6 miles at 9:00/mile pace and I thought, no way, that will never be me. Truly, that sounded so impossible. A year or so later I ran my first half and finished in 2:07, walking in the last mile. Second half, same result. Now here I am, running 13.1 miles at 8:30/mile.

Now lets be clear, I am by no means the fastest runner, or anywhere near the front actually. I'm a middle of the packer all the way. But to look back at where I came from and see what I have accomplished with running -what I thought was impossible- it feels good.

And there you go, now you know why it's so addicting. :)

Evan, Bill and Bill's mom did come down to watch, but I never saw them. The temps were in the thirties so I think they stayed inside at the coffee shop, but they swore they stood outside looking for me. Oh we'll, at least Evan makes a cute cheerleader.

My friend Ailini and her family came to watch and saw me three times on the course! Thanks for coming Lini, I loved seeing you,