Roots N Blues Half Marathon - DONE!

This morning I got up and got ready to run my ½ marathon. It was raining outside, but I was hopeful that it would soon stop. We checked the radar and it looked like a line of showers that would pass pretty quickly.

Downtown, there were lots of roads blocked off and a lot more people than I had expected and I had a hard time finding my running partners. We finally all gathered and got started…..it was still raining.

We ran and chatted and pretty much ignored the rain. Everyone felt good and we were making good time. It quit raining about half way through the race, and then my wet clothes started to really bother me. I was pleasantly surprised that I did not find chafing when I got home.

My feet started to hurt at mile 4 (which is normal) and continued to nag me the rest of the race. I stopped once and took my shoe off and rubbed my foot, which helped. Overall, I think me feet were great given that it was the longest run I have done since my foot surgeries. The pain was never unbearable.

At the finish we all noticed that the course was long. Some had Garmin readings of 13.4 and others 13.5. Not sure why that was, except, the rain had closed the tunnels due to flooding so there was some minor rerouting that took place. But, still that did not seem like enough.

My time was 2 hours and 20 minutes. Not bad, but nothing to brag about. I don’t think we trained particularly hard or meant to do the race within a certain time. Mostly, it was about just getting it done and having fun with my running friends. We ran almost the whole race and only walked a little on some of the hills. It was a very hilly course. I felt pretty good up until the last few miles which, of course, were starting to really hurt.

Next time, I think I want to shoot for less than 2 hours and train a bit harder. Push myself and see what I can accomplish. I am done worrying about my feet…..they will make it.

The best part of the whole thing was spending so much quality time (training and racing) with my running buddies. They are the greatest and I love them all!!

Also, a big thanks to James who patiently keeps Alli so I can go out and “run around” with my friends.

Terry and Lori at the finish....can you tell we had fun?!?

Judi spots her girls as she runs in the last few feet.

Julie, Judi and Karla post race and still wet.