New half marathon PR! Chilly Half :)

I had a great race 🙂  I clung to Tony, my running partner from last year and made it until mile 10, when I stopped too long at a water station and just couldn’t pick it back up.

Luckily for me, one of Greg’s OTHER co-workers Ted was running close to my pace because he’s injured, and he ran me in the last three miles.  Without him, I would have dropped down to 10:30s for sure… but I kept going with him next to me setting the pace, keeping me moving, distracting me with stories, and telling me each step of the way what was next to the course.  I had someone with me the whole way.

Tony kept going strong and finished with a 9:51 average when he was hoping for 9:58!  And Ted ran me in strong at the finish for a PR of 2:11:13 – TEN MINUTES AND ONE SECOND PER MILE PACE!

I ran 10 minute miles for a half marathon, and don’t think for a second that that second gets me down 🙂

I’m thrilled – it wasn’t easy, but it was worth it!  It validates my hard summer training, AND the support from Tony and Ted that I could drop my pace by 30 seconds per mile from October when I was running solo and playing it safe.

In homage to our recent amazing holiday to Paris, Greg and I opened a bottle of Moet this afternoon to celebrate.

Loving life right now!

🙂

Thanks for the comments and emails wishing me a great race!  Connecting with other runners through my writing and reflecting about running has been such a joy.  Some days, it literally keeps me going.

Thank you.

-kelly