A Triumphant Return!

The Monumental Half Marathon has come and gone. All of the training miles have been completed and now it is time to rest. And I can rest knowing that I have done my best! I was not sure what to expect with this weekend's race. I still had some residual foot issues and had been working on my right hamstring muscles. Alex did one more round of dry needling on me Wednesday before the race .... in my opinion, it helped tremendously! I felt minimal strain in my hamstrings during the race, which was great! I was hoping to get in the ballpark of my PR (1:49:59 set in May 2014). I was not expecting to smash that PR by 4+ minutes! I ended up finishing in 1:45:50! With minimal discomfort in my hamstrings, and some mild foot issues, I was able to focus on the mental aspect of my running it seemed. I decided before the race that I was going to dedicate my efforts to the memory of my Grandma who passed away last month. She experienced so many hardships in her life and managed to stay strong in her faith and sense of self regardless of these struggles. If she faced these challenges with grace and strength, certainly I could focus for less than 2 hours on running a road race. My first mile was my slowest, but the rest of my race was consistent. My last 3 miles were actually my fastest. Usually, I tucker out around mile 11 and just try to keep moving to the finish line. Not this time! I feel like my training, better eating habits, and better fitness helped me tremendously. I also had thoughts of my grandma and all of the people I love to keep me strong in those final miles. It kept my head in the race. The 40 degree temperatures (perfect for running!) didn't hurt at all, either :)  Alex also had an amazing race! He set a PR by running the half in 1:39:02. I am so proud of him and how hard he has worked. We both made some big life changes this summer by kicking our eating and exercising habits in better gear, and it seemed to pay off.

Me ... waiting to dive into that post race chocolate milk!!! And Alex is there, too :)

The Monumental races are great. I love the course. It is so nice and flat! The volunteers were enthusiastic and helpful. There are cookies at the end ... and chocolate milk! I love chocolate milk. The medal is awesome (the Statehouse is on it ... my old tour guide stomping grounds)! Many of my friends also participated in one of the races that day. It is always fun to see them work for their personal goals. The only unusual race day detail was probably the announcer at the beginning of the race. He kept telling us to get into our "carols" .. pronouncing corrals like the tunes you sing at Christmas time ... lol. He must not have announced any running races before. Several of us who were already hanging out in our "carols" were getting some good giggles at this. Overall, it was a great day for racing. I am proud of my efforts and proud of my husband and his hard work. Now, it is time for some much needed rest. I need to work on my left foot a bit and hit some heavy glute strengthening so my hamstrings don't do all the work when I try to run fast. So here is to the beginning of an "off season." My next big race planned is the Mini Marathon in May 2017 (with the training series for this prior to the Mini). I will be sure to keep you updated on my running adventures and include some more personal posts over the next few months. 

Also .. go vote on Tuesday! I did my early voting last week!