Monson Memorial Classic Half Marathon RECAP

Five half marathons.. I can't believe it… Kirsten and I decided to sign up for this race 8 days before. I am just coming off an injury and haven't done more than 10 miles since my previous half marathon. I wasn't prepared. Thats the truth. I took it slow. I really did and hopefully didn't re-injure myself. Because this race was a last minute idea we decided to have some fun with it. We wore tutus and made special shirts. The shirts said "Running is our happy hour. Running 13.1 miles with this crazy girl" on the front and "If you can read this then I'm not in last place" (which ended up being super ironic) on the back…. I didn't know what to expect going into the race. On our drive to Monson, Kirsten told me that it is a slight incline for the first 8 miles, but all downhill after that. I could do that. Right? I really went in not looking for a PR and just to have fun. And in all truths, I did have as much fun as possible with freezing cold rain and massive hills. But we will get to that later! First here are the mile dedications.

All I knew about Monson was my ex was from there. Oh and that he ran the 5K race every year… Guess who I ran into? Well let me clarify… I saw him walking down the street and like an idiot sprinted across the street in a tutu.

We got our bibs and goodie bags  ( long sleeve shirt and an ale cup). I'm not a beer drinker, but I will still nice to get a glass for some skinny girl drinking. While we were waiting around, people kept coming up to us commenting on our T-shirts, not the fact that we were wearing rainbow colored tutus. I also ran into one of my bosses.

I love this photo. Just a lady waiting for a porta potty and some dogs staring as well.

At the waiting area two women with a camera man asked if they could interview us for a TV show they had. It's called "Skin Talk"… So make sure to stay tune… Maybe I will make an appearance! I will start signing autographs very shortly...Anyways before we knew it we were lining up at the starting line. This was a race of less than 200 people. Seriously every race I still am surprised that there aren't 20,000 other people with me.

Spot the tutus!

One last pre race selfie.

Kirsten and I decided we would run separately since I knew she secretly was going for a PR, even if she wasn't going to admit it. The first mile I was in pain. I wasn't warmed up and was breathing super heavily. Remember that slight incline. HAHA! Hill after hill after hill. I was keeping it slow and just letting myself get into it. And it took about 2-3 miles to do so. I was with one or two other people but didn't see anyone else around me. Great! I actually enjoyed those earlier miles (after warming up) all by myself. I laughed about coming in last and decided it would be fun. When could I ever say again that I came in last… Well maybe I shouldn't quinx it. Also how ironic would it be to come in last, especially with "If you can read this then I'm not in last place" on the back of my shirt. I just had to laugh at it.

Every mile that went by I would think that after 8 miles no more hills, but in the meantime those hills were b****es. Then it started raining and it got cold. I was alone. I was miserable. There I was alone in the middle of nowhere and in the pouring rain and running a million hills. All I could do was LAUGH! Then out of nowhere  Kenyans came running by. Wow. I didn't know this race was a big deal like that.

I started playing leap frog with the one other woman who at one point was chatting on the phone. I should have started a conversation but I was in my own mind set. She was walking hills and sprinting down them… pretty sure that will hurt tomorrow..

At mile 8, I thought about Shannon who completed the triathlon 2 weeks ago, I had nothing to complain about. Luckily it was mostly all down hill after those 8 miles. There were some hills but they weren't that bad. Mile 11 sucked and the woman I was leap frogging (is that verb) with but had been ahead of for sometime caught up and got away. Rats I was actually going to be last place. Accept it and move on.

Fun selfies along the way all alone..

Finally I saw the finish line and just went for it. Kirsten came and ran it in with me (last couple of steps). I just wanted sub 2:40. That's all. Clock read 2:39 something, I am happy I got that. I didn't care about time. But I was really hoping that there was someone else behind me. I had previously researched race results from the year before and much slower times existed. I didn't care. I ran a smart race and hopefully didn't re-injure myself. I got my medal and then just was exhausted and cold. Lesson learned, you need to train for a half marathon even if you have 4 under your belt (make that 5 now).

Great finish shot!

Overall, I am proud I listened to my body. I'm proud about where my mind was in the race. It was when I got back and started beating myself.

Kept repeating this to myself. 

You know it was that time of month and yes cramps were out of control!

Also remember that whole "it was hilly"… My GPS said the elevation gained was 1,004 feet.. I'm sorry that's insane.

Here are my splits:
Mile 1- 12:44 min/mile
Mile 2- 12:49
Mile 3- 12:20
Mile 4- 12:29
Mile 5- 12:50
Mile 6- 12:53
Mile 7- 13:21
Mile 8- 12:15
Mile 9- 11:20
Mile 10- 11:11
Mile 11- 11:23
Mile 12- 11:56
Mile 13- 11:01
.12-  1:12 (average 9:33)

Time (unofficial) : 2:39:49 min
Average split: 12:11 min/mile

OFFICIAL TIME: 2:39:42 min
Average split: 12:13 min/mile
2nd to last place… WOOT WOOT!