Last Race of My 20s!
This past weekend I set out to complete my second half marathon running and the last race in my 20s, the Louisiana Marathon Half! My only goal was to beat my New Year's Eve time of 2:21:35 but in the back of my mind I really wanted to beat 2:15! As I was setting my firm goals the night before the race I decided to go for the 2:15! My alarm went off at 4:30 to get ready for my race and for the 1 hour drive there... I woke up and was a little slow moving but finally left the house about 530 and was on my way. Tired, from not sleeping well the night before, I drove to Baton Rouge shaking my head and in the cold just to stay awake. As I arrived to the race site, State Capitol, and parked my car I decided it was a good idea to rest minute before the race. As a precaution I set my alarm for when I needed to be on my way to the starting line in case I actually fell asleep. I totally did. I was asleep for about 20 minutes but it was much needed. Now it was time to race my last race of my 20s!! 
I decided to start out a little faster than I usually would and run with the 9:55 pace group (which would set me up for a 2:10) in order to get some mileage behind me at a faster pace in case I got tired, leaving myself some wiggle room. Around Mile 8 I lost the group as I had to take a detour, too much water LOL, but maintained about a 10:05 pace for the next few miles. As I was coming up in Mile 11 I started to get a slight pain in my right knee. Not sure what was causing it, could have just been not wearing the knee brace, but either way it didn't feel pleasant. Too keep from walking I slowed my pace quite a bit as 2:10 obviously wasn't going to happen but I still was shooting for 2:15!! Getting closer and closer to the finish line I just kept saying you're almost there, you're almost there!! You are going to accomplish your goal, save your knee and smoke your previous PR!! The finish line was just over the bridge and around the corner. I held my head high and gave it my all, sprinting to the finish. I had done it. I had accomplished what I had set out to do!! My time was 2:14:53!! Just barely but I'll take it!! I had a new PR and my knee was feeling great!! I couldn't have gotten to the level of confidence I did nor increased my running ability without Lisa, Kevin, Scott, Shane, Juan and all of my other RunOn peeps, CG peeps and great friends that kept me motivated to get my mileage in and/or get my cross training in!! Thank you all for constant inspiration and motivation and I only hope to excel on the next race!!
