I already knew this race wasn't going to be a PR, but a girl can hope, can't she? Just a week after Ironman and a busy weekend of working on my feet, what was I thinking running a half-marathon?!
I'm addicted to racing. That's the reason I raced. And my friends pressured me. But I couldn't pass up a chance to dress up as a bride, I mean a runaway bride!
My running costume: white Team Sparkle skirt, white tank with handmade flyaway sleeves, gunmetal Team Sparkle visor, veil pinned into hair, blue garter, white SKINS compression socks, and pink New Balance running shoes.
Night races are always interesting. I never know what to do or eat before. We drank hot chocolate as we laid in bed all morning. That's what three moms away from their kids do on race morning.
I wanted a sub-1:40 marathon, but realistically that wasn't going to happen. Just a few days after finishing an Ironman, my legs were toast. But my heart still wanted that PR. Sorry heart, this wasn't the day.
The race began just as the sun was setting. It wasn't cold, but WOW it was windy. We ran one mile south on the strip and then U-turned to a nasty headwind. I've never raced with a headwind before. I heard later that the wind gusted up to 50 mph. It was like running on a hamster wheel. So much effort to just run in place. I knew nothing special was happening that day. It was straight into a headwind for about 7 miles. And when we finally turned around to run south on the strip again, the wind was blowing every which way. My veil visor blew off my head several times and one time I chased it backwards down the street. It was just ridiculous! My goal soon turned into sub-1:50. I don't know why, but it just sounded good. And I barely made it by seconds. It was my second slowest half-marathon ever. My legs were so heavy and I could barely wait to get back to our hotel. Luckily, we stayed at Treasure Island which is right where the finish line was. Yeah! Compression tights and dinner. One happy girl, despite a slow race. Still proud.
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