12 months of running | april | garmin half marathon

phew! another 13.1 miles under my belt it was so awesome and crazy!! 

I decided to run the Garmin Half Marathon so soon after my first half for many reasons. One, it's a local business and huge here that I just had to get out and support it. Two, I use their products to train and just absolutely love them. I would be seriously lost without my Garmin Forerunner 10 purple watch. And three, the course is through my neighborhood and well, that is just awesome! 

This was my first race that I ran without my family or friends there to support me. Wayne was out of town fishing and so thankfully I have the most awesome friend ever who woke up to hang out at my house with the kids at 6 in the morning. 

  This race went so much more smoothly than my last half and I felt great the entire 13 miles. I started out closer to the front with the 1:40 pacers and I was surprised how well I was able to keep up with them. Plus, they are so inspiring and keep you motivated the entire time. I loved this course too! The last 5 miles were all on tree covered trails that were just so peaceful. However, the last 40 minutes of the race it began to rain, and then downpour and then hail so I slowed down a ton! By the end my feet were so soak and wet and cold that I just couldn't push myself and harder and just wanted to finish. My watch time had me finish at 1:44:12 a little bit before the finish line and my Garmin finish was 1:45:2. I was still so happy and proud to be able to keep my pace with little in between training. 

It was also nice to see one of my good friends, Jaimie, standing in the pouring rain at the finish line. It totally made my day and I love that I have the most amazing friends and family supporting me on my running journey. It's been a rewarding one for sure!!