Arbuckles to Ardmore Race for Mercy - RunHalf Marathon

Started out fast. I knew the first half was downhill. While the last 4 miles had uphills. We also had a good solid wind at our backs, gusting up to probably 30 mph.

So I went out fast and strong. I wanted to beat 2:07 and to get as close to 2:00 as possible. I figured if I blew up, I blew up. I had to try.

Overall I was doing great and holding strong up until mile 8ish. Then my quads started to hurt. They were so sore! I guess running downhill,fast had thrashed them.

Around mile 6ish a gal was running side my side with me. It was annoying me to no end to pace someone like that. But I decided to say hi to her. She was actually using me as her pacer. Ha! So we chatted for a bit and decided we would motivate each other. Worked out nicely.

At one point I pulled away from her and didn't see her. I thought she was gone.

Then I stopped to use the restroom. Mind you, I had to stop 2 times. Trust me, it was of the utmost importance that I stopped!

When I started running again I saw her ahead of me. So I chased her down and caught up to her. I was starting to hurt really bad at this point and we had about 3 miles left. I usually kick it in and feel fresh enough to finish fast and strong. Not this time! WOW I was HURTING so bad. Running was PAINFUL. I told myself to tune it out and to keep running. Honestly, walking hurt even more, so I kept running.

We then had about .60 left and she took off. I was fine with that. THEN we had to turn into the headwind... that was really miserable. I had a string of 4 letter words coming out of my mouth.

Finally we made it into the stadium (for a local High School) and we had to run AROUND the track. WHAT? UGH. Oh and back into the headwind. Ugh.

My Garmin hit 13.1 at about half way around the track. That time was 2:01:20. But my official time for the race is 2:03:30, so I am logging that one.

I crossed the finish line and then I could barely move. I had at least 3 of the volunteers ask me if I was OK with a very concerned look on their face.

Overall I had a good run. It certainly did hurt though! Of course, I set a PR by 4 minutes!!!!! WOO HOO! Not sure I can repeat that though on a flat course. *Shrug* I'll take it though.

Mile/per minute mile

1- 8:45
2- 8:29
3- 8:59
4- 9:14
5- 10:00
6- 8:54
7- 8:59
8- 9:01
9- 8:56
10- 10:27
11- 9:11
12- 9:28
13- 9:52

This was a very nice race. They had really nice T-shirts and finisher shirts and nice medals. The food offering after the race was really great! It was just the perfect size. Also, we had to get bused to the starting location, and they had enough buses!!! It is a FIRST! Tri races need to take note- get enough buses for the participants to get the start on time! They were even kind enough to let us sit on the buses to stay warm, since our starting line was on a two lane road with nothing out there.

I only gave this race a 4 because they did not have a starting mat timer at the start line. They shot off a shotgun (yes, a real gun) and off we went. So my time could be somewhat off. Also, the post race activities were... nothing. The food was great, but that is all there was. Of course it was cold and windy, so we just wanted in the car anyways.