Half Marathon #7

My good friend, Laisa, and her sister-in-law

March 4, 2017 was race day! Last year I was so close to my Personal Record that I knew I was going to beat it this year provided nothing went awry during the race. The weather showed a chance of rain but besides some light sprinkling at the starting line, the rain held off.  The race atmosphere always helps me push myself harder and my finishing time was 1:41:44 or a 7:46 pace per mile! My goal was to be under an 8-minute mile so I crushed it. I finished 9^th in my age division out of 281. My overall finishing rank was 251/3437, which doesn’t sound as impressive. I am always so grateful when I feel well during a run because so many things can go wrong. I did have some shin splints for the first two miles, but I was also going pretty fast getting around people, and mile 11 my stomach hurt but both problems thankfully went away so I could finish strong. I missed my Mom and Dad at the finish line (on a mission), but it was fun to see my family [briefly before they took off for Caleb's baseball game] and my sister's family who came out to support my brother-in-law, Zane. It was his first half marathon!

Other stats:

I averaged 7:39 for the first 6 miles.

My fastest mile was 7:27 and slowest mile was 7:53. 

Past races:
Half Marathon #1 (2009) 1:58:45
Half Marathon #2 (2010) 1:57:47 (8 months post baby)
Half Marathon #3 (2011) 1:52:13
Half Marathon #4 (2012) 1:48:05
Half Marathon #5 (2013) 1:54:18 (4 months post baby)
Half Marathon #6 (2016) 1:49:32 (6 months post baby)
Half Marathon #7 (2017) 1:41:44
Marathon #1 (2011) 4:28:34
Marathon #2 (2014) 3:58:08