Girlfriend's Half Marathon

The day before the race, I decided if there was an opening, I would sign myself up and run it. The weather was promising to be pretty decent, cool but not rainy. It turns out there was one opening, so I got my number and I was signed up to run. The entire time, I am thinking what in the world am I doing!? Ah well. 13.1 miles around Vancover, it will be a nice stroll through the city....

The race was geared towards women, pink shirts to wear, and chocolate to eat and firemen handing out water at the finish line, what fun is that!?

Saturday morning I met up with my co-workers, stretched out and lined up for the race. The announcer said go and away we went. I stayed with my competitive co workers for the first 2.5 miles but then decided if I was going to last another 11 miles, I needed to knock the pace back a little bit. So down the Columbia River I shuffled with a mass of women all ages and builds. It was actually pretty fun being in the group. There were refueling station every 2 miles so you could pace yourself that way: just get to the next tent, there is water and energy gels (yuck - but they do provide a boost if you can choke them down) I met up with a lady that had all sorts of timers and watches going off that was going about the same pace as me so I stayed wit her and chatted for about 5 miles and then again had to slow up the pace for myself. By mile 10, I was starting to feel the muscles tighten and it became a push to keep going but the end was insight. Just go around the fort, back up the hill, through town and you are over the finish line! Becky and Denise were already across the time by the time I got to my last mile. They were doubled back and cheering me on, I sprinted the last 1/2 mile and I had done it! 13.1 miles!