Half Marathon Recap

Yesterday was the "Valley of Gold Half Marathon", or as I like to call it, the OV half. When my alarm clock went off at 4:15am I was, as usual, wondering why I torture myself like this. But, I (eventually) got out of bed, put my running gear on, slathered myself with sunscreen and shuffled sleepily around the house, doing my best not to disturb my boys. Walter was sleeping on the couch, and barely raised his head to glare at me, letting me know that he was clearly not happy with my decision to be up so early. He needs his sleep.

I left the house right on time, and headed up to B and A's house. I wasn't even 5 minutes away when I realized I was missing a crucial piece of gear, my GPS watch!! I have become slightly dependent upon it for my mile splits, and I didn't know how I could possibly run 13 miles with out it. 10 minutes later, I had my watch and was back on my way. I guess me being on time for a run with Brandon and Alexis is just not going to ever happen.

We still managed to make it to the starting line at 6am. Parking wasn't a problem at all, and there were PLENTY of Port-a-potties, which are a necessity at the starting line of any race. Plus, there were sinks with soap and paper towels!! Amazing!!

Around 6:45 we shed our warm clothes and made our way to the starting line to shiver and wait. We found the 2hr pacer and lined up near her. Brandon thought it was amazing how nice all the runners were (especially compared to cyclists). No one cared when we got in front of them at the start line. Apparently I'm not the only friendly runner out there!!

We started out at a great pace, and as we got to the top of the first loooooonnnnngg hill we began to pass people who started out way to fast. The pack began to thin out and we were cruising along comfortably. Then, suddenly, around mile 4, we had a runner down. While Alexis was getting her sports beans out, her shoelace misbehaved and tripped her up. She left some skin and blood on the streets of Oro Valley, but got right back up and kept running. That's what it feels like to be a champion. Brandon and I had to force her to stop to re-tie her shoe laces.

We continued to cruise along around a 9 minute pace until about mile 9, when Alexis' bloody knee started to really bother her. She had to slow down but told Brandon and I to go ahead with out her. Brandon and I debated what to do...we didn't want to leave our girl behind!! But, Brandon assured me that Alexis was already going to be upset with the fact that she had to slow down, and she wouldn't want to slow us down when we were still feeling good. So, we charged ahead. At 10 miles we were at 1h30(ish)m. Since we had been doing 9 minute miles I was feeling pretty good about beating my goal of a finish time of less than 2 hours.

Brandon pulled ahead of me and crossed the finish line at 1:55:04. He was running so fast that our cheering section didn't even see him go by!! Apparently he was just a blue blur. They did see me as I came by, right before crossing at 1:56:59!! That's 2.5 minutes faster than the Tucson half!! I was really not expecting to be that much faster. I grabbed my metal, 3 bottles of water and went back to find the cheering section. I told them that Alexis had fallen but should be coming by soon. They told me that they missed Brandon going by and they were all wondering where he was. Being the gentleman that he is, he had gone back to finish with his wife (insert romantic sigh here). About 2 seconds later we saw both B and A. She finished around 2:02 and was very happy with her time, considering her war wounds.

Overall, it was a great day, and a great race. We all had fun and ate lots afterwards.


Most shocking moment of the morning:
Brandon leaving his phone in the car. For anyone who knows Brandon, you know this is a HUGE deal. HUGE!! Alexis and I had already made it clear to him that if he answered his phone while running, we would leave him.

Funniest moment of the day:
At the starting line, Brandon looked around and said "I'm so glad no one else has my same outfit"

And the sweetest moment:
As we were walking back from getting our gear bag, Tyler said to Alexis, "I'll pray for you tonight mom," so that her knees and hand would feel better. What a sweet boy!!




Today it has been a challenge to squat down to pick my sweet boy up, but my legs feel surprisingly good. I even managed to take the beagle for a walk. We went 1 whole mile. I think I'm going to take at least a week off from running...and no long runs (well, nothing longer than 8 or 9 miles) for quite a while, probably not until the fall, which is when we will begin gearing back up for the Tucson Half. Hopefully my favorite runner will be back from his tendinitis. Yesterday he ran for 30 minutes and kept telling me that he was much more sore than I was. He is coming back from an injury afterall. Ahhhhh, I love that man!