Monumental Half Marathon

     Yesterday I ran the Monumental Half Marathon. It was fun! There were so many people that at first at the starting gate we had to walk/shuffle until we could find some space to start running. I was so keyed up at the starting line it was like I had had tons of caffeine but I had only allowed myself half a cup because I didn't want to spend half the race in the porta potty. I felt really good during this race. I felt I had really no trouble keeping up a good pace. I put my GPS on when I started and the pace was almost always between mid-8s to low 9s. The best part was I really picked up speed on the last two miles. It was like I suddenly had wings on my feet! My last two miles: mile 12 was 7:45 pace, mile 13 to the finish line was at 7:44 pace. It is amazing how much progress you can make when you listen to your running elders and train properly.
    There were tons of friends there as well. I felt part of a group even when I was running alone I knew they were out there sharing the experience. My friend Evan was on his bike, riding along cheering people on. Chris Basham was dressed in his Chuck Norris outfit and I got to give him a high five around mile 10. I saw some people I knew out on the course...people from BARA and ran into my boss who was running the half. That was cool too! And there were SO MANY people. I met one lady in her 60's who had run 329 marathons in her lifetime. WHOA!!!  She just casually said "Oh i run about 20 a year" .  I saw a guy who was running his first marathon and I saw him later on in the course and said "Good Job!!"
   After I finished I had made a big mistake though and left all my warm clothes in Miranda's car. So Erin took pity on me and gave me an extra shirt to wear but BRRRR I was cold! Next time I will remember gear check. YEP. It was great to catch some people crossing the finish line though: Emily, Christy, Miranda, Melanie, Mariluz, Cliff. I was SO proud of the BARA group. We  all had good showings.

So here are the final stats on the Monumental race. As you know I am a stickler for figures when it comes to my racing. It says my pace was average 8:58. I finished in 1:51:42. I was 1138 out of 4985. I was 38th place out of the 40-44 group, was 321 out of overall women to cross the finish line.

So great! I am so glad I took up distance running. It has completely changed my life!!