Busy Babes Half Marathon 2013

My sister, who recently got into running, sent me the link to her 10K for which she had been training.  The race also had a half marathon and it was only $20.  TWENTY DOLLARS!  How can you not sign up for a race when it's only $20!!!

But things got complicated leading up to the race.  First, I found out Dave was going to be in San Francisco for work this week and would not be back in time for the race, which meant I somehow had to figure out how to run it and do something with the baby.  Luckily, my parents were going to spectate my sister anyway and agreed to watch the baby.  And because it was such an early morning, I just spent the night at my parents house.  Secondly, I had a really tough time recovering from the 40K last week.  I was so sore at the beginning of the week I could barely walk.  And by the end of the week I was still hobbling.  Lastly, I have been battling really, really bad shin splints that may or may not be a stress fracture.  Running on pavement was probably not a good idea.

I put on my big girl panties, sucked it up, and did the race despite all that.

The race was small, maybe about 30 people and totally laid back.  Like, the start finish line was a chalk line on the path.

But, for a small race in only it's second year, I thought it was pretty well organized.  The miles seemed spot on, there were a good amount of water stops (though understaffed and not at regular intervals), and pretty good swag (shirt, medal, grab bag).  The only down side I saw was there was only one port-a-john on the course and it was only at the turnaround for the half marathon course.  This was an all-women's race.  There needed to be more port-a-johns.

Anyway, the start of the race was almost a little too casual.  They didn't give us any countdown or any warning.  We were all just standing around talking, back from the start line, when the DJ (yes DJ) said, "3,2,1, go".  Oh!  Okay!  And then we were off. 



I ran with a girl for about a mile, who eventually won it, and then I was all by myself for the rest of the race.  Like really alone.  The girl who won it went about 2-1/2 minutes faster than me and then the girl behind me went 5 minutes slower.

I hit the first mile in 8:30, which is right where I wanted to be.  Having done no speed work and having shown in my training that I still have no speed post-baby, I expected to be around a 1:50 for this race.  But then my second mile was low 8:00s and then I started flying.  I was actually dropping 7:30s pretty easily.  I was ecstatic!  I haven't hit paces like that since I had the baby!  This pace continued until maybe mile 9 or 10 and then I started getting tired.  My pace slipped to around the 8:00 range, but I was still doing good and knew I would be around a 1:45. 

My

My finish time was 1:44:19 for second place overall.  While I am happy with my placement, I am even more excited with my time.  I have had a hard time getting my speed back post baby, but this race was a great improvement.  Not where I was before baby, but certainly getting closer.

My sister and her friends had a great time at their first 10K and even invited me into their pictures.  I am so excited that my sister is enjoying running.  She has even hinted at maybe doing a half marathon next year.  It's so fun to share this experience with her and I hope we have more races together soon.