End of the Season 1/2 Marathon

This last summer, I was able to run in the mornings with these fine ladies, Jess, Kristi, and Christina. (Codi too, but she couldn't make the race.) We would run everyday except Sundays most weeks. We got faster and went farther. Once Seminary started, I had to stop the early morning runs and just didn't run as much. I was done for the year until Crazy Christina talked us all into a half marathon in November. I thought I could do it easily. After all, we ran 12 miles one morning this summer just because. But, I have found out that running is not like riding a bike. You cannot pick up where you left off. Needless to say, it was a tough race. My goal was to finish under 2 hours. My first 1/2 marathon was 2:02. This time, I was over by 1 minute! I was so frustrated, but I could not get my legs to go any faster. This year's time was 2:01. Guess I'll have to keep trying until I can get under 2.

The race was beautiful though. Couldn't have asked for a better day. It was through Amish country on a double loop course. The hills were rolling and long in places, but we all did great. We all finished about 4-5 minutes apart from each other. What a fun weekend.
The trip was not without it's troubles though. The night before the race, we all drove down together and stayed in a hotel. After picking up our race packets, we were driving the course to familiarize ourselves with it. All of a sudden, my car made some kind of clunking noises and I thought one of the tires had shredded like the ones you see on the side of the highway. I pulled over and the tire was loosing air fast. After a friendly farmer helped get the donut on, we were on our way and got it checked out after the race. THIS is what they pulled out of my tire. Some kind of mean metal something had gone completely inside my tire. Nice. We made it home on the donut though and Riley got a new one that afternoon. It was a little scary, but I felt safe having Christina around. She has got some mad tire changing skills and even if the farmer hadn't come along, I think she could have gotten us home.