36 Seconds

Shun The Sun 2010

This is my "Shun The Sun 2010" Half-Marathon.

I was super excited when I crossed the finish line. As Mike put it, I beat my goal time with 36 seconds to spare!

I wanted to beat 2 hours. Well, let me back up, I wanted to beat my time from my last half-marathon in January. That was London's Run. My time was 2:07:32. This was a 9:45 pace. But, word was the race was mapped a little short. So I was probably around a 10-minute mile considering the course was short.

My friend Maddy suggested we do Shun The Sun and work on our speed. She found a training schedule to help you beat 2 hours. Although, she didn't really need it, she is already super fast and was well under 2 hours in January.

And we did it!!! My time was 1:59:24. It felt so good!

The race went really well. The course is all flat and paved most of the way. I drove up w/ my friends Maddy, Meredith, and Casey. Meredith and Casey did so awesome, this was their first half.

Maddy and I stayed together for the first 4 miles. Then, she took off.

At mile 7, I was feeling great! I think the Olive Garden pasta I ate the night before paid off. They had a clock at mile 7 & I knew I needed to step up my pace. I turned on my i-pod and off I went. I felt like I was cruising. The endorphins must have kicked in. I felt like I could run forever. I was passing people. It was invigorating.

Then came mile 10. I started to feel tired, but I knew mentally I could do 13 at my pace if I kept pushing. Mile 11 - 12 was the worst, it seemed to take forever. I think I went a little too fast because I couldn't sprint towards the finish. But, when I saw the clock, I knew I would beat my time and that was all I cared about.

I look forward to doing another one. I want to beat my time again. I get crazy ideas that I want to run a full marathon whenever I am at mile 8 in a run. But, then when mile 11 comes on, I realize it might be too much of a challenge!!

I have to say I feel like I am addicted to running. I am amazed at what my new "norm" feels like. The human body has such an amazing ability to adapt. But, I still can't decide if where I'm at is healthy or not????? I feel like I need 2 six-mile runs during the week and a long run on Saturday to feel good. It is like my body craves it. I know I say this all the time, but I think if I drank alcohol I would be an alcoholic based on how addicted to the endorphins I am.

Mike teases me because I am burning through running shoes like crazy.......Am I turning crazy??? I still love the feeling nonetheless.