Exceeding Expectations

Today turned out to be a beautiful race day. Tim & I 'slept in' until 4:30 a.m., ate breakfast and headed to downtown Omaha. We found relatively close parking with no problem, checked our bag of stuff, waited in line at the porta-potties and we were off.

I felt extremely relaxed today and my running felt very smooth. I hadn't really checked out the course before today, so I wasn't paying too good of attention to the location of the mile markers and I missed seeing the first three; so I basically had no idea what my mile time was. A lady nearby with a fancy GPS running watch said her pace was 8:40 per mile and then I realized I was going a lot faster than I realized.

I settled in to a decent pace and continued to feel very relaxed. I had heard that the course was tough because of all the hills, but I didn't find them to be as intimidating as I had heard. I saw Tim & some of my TNT friends along the route (as well as someone who works out at my gym!) at the half marathon turnaround. Unfortunately for Tim, he was so excited giving people high fives that he missed the turnaround and ran a mile past it along the marathon course--meaning he had to turn around still to come back to the half marathon course. (He ended up putting in two extra miles but still kept the pace he'd trained for). The TNT water stop along the course was great--the way the route was set up we actually looped around and hit it twice. Lots of encouragers there!

I tried to pick it up around mile 11 and really kicked it in at mile 12. The finish wound along the riverwalk and I couldn't quite see the finish line, so I kept praying I'd see it soon and kept my legs a-movin'. What a blessing to see my mom and dad, sister and nephew cheering at the finish line! According to the race website, my 'gun time' (the time from when the gun sounded to when I crossed the finish line) and my 'race time' (the time I crossed the starting line (after the gun sounded because I was far back in the crowd) and finish line) were the same, so my time is not accurate. According to my watch, I ran 13.1 miles in 1:59.30. The website says 2:01.13. Either way, I very much exceeded my time goal of 2:15!

After an ice bath, my legs feel really good. I am in a lot better shape physically and mentally than the last half marathon I ran in June and I can tell. I really don't even have muscle soreness right now. Some of my joints are a little sore (knees) and I rubbed a spot raw under my arm, but those are minor in comparison to major leg pain or blisters. I am hopeful that with consistent training over the next few months that I continue to progress and have a wonderful marathon experience.

A few race pictures are included.

Keep on steppin'!