I've been posting about this for months now via facebook and instagram and the day finally came! For four months I ran 3 or 4 times a week anywhere from 5 to 16k on any given day and then Sunday September 22 I ran 21k in 1h56! I placed 168th (out of 683) in my age group and was 1167/5999 women!
Kinsey and Brad came over the night before the race to help me carbo-load and then Ryan joined later in the evening for games night. We love Monopoly Deal!
The three also came out to cheer me on! The race finished at Parc Lafontaine and the streets were lined with crowds of supporters. Kinsey, Brad and Ryan each were holding up a sign for me. I couldn't hold back a smile. I have the greatest friends. I kicked it into high gear to the finish line so that I could run over to them to celebrate as soon as I could!
The race started out on the Jacques Cartier bridge and it was rainy and cool but once we got running the rain stopped and the temperature was perfect. We all had to hop around to avoid puddles but it wasn't so bad. We ran through La Ronde which is an amusement park and then through Old Port by the Canal, which I love. The 18th kilometre (give or take) was entirely uphill but I had worship music blaring, supporters cheering and I closed my eyes and gave it my all! Going into the race I had estimated that it would take be between 2 hrs and 2:15 so when I realized my pace was going to get me in much closer to the 2 hour mark I was excited and was even more motivated. My competitive spirit kicked in pretty much as soon as the run started. Ha.
Going into race day I thought this would probably be my one and only half-marathon. It was just something I wanted to say I'd done. Now that I've done it though...I'd do it again in a heart beat. It's a great feeling.
Also, big thank you's to Morgan Thrall and Michelle Powell for being my running buddies this summer :) Love you ladies!
So there you have it!
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