My History with the OC Half Marathon

I will be running half marathon #21 next week! I have never actually "raced" this half and it always seems to be that way. When I ran the OC Half Marathon back in 2012, it was a comeback race for me after a hamstring injury so I ran it very cautiously and finished right under 2 hours.

In 2013, I speed walked/ran the half marathon with my friend Caroline who was injured at the time. Speed walking is no easy task let me tell you. I don't think I have ever been so sore in all of my life after a race. The weather was perfect that day and I am glad I made the decision to stick with her because for me running isn't always about a personal PR or goal. 

I did not run the OC Half Marathon in 2014 but I will be back to run it again this year. In 2015, I find myself in a similar situation once again. I have been having issues with hip bursitis and a knee cyst so it is kind of hit and miss. My hip seems to stay happy as long as I do my exercises and keep the pace easy on longer runs. It really gets me down sometimes because I am not sure if this is going to be something that I will just have to deal with long term or if it will go away. Maybe I am just getting old but as long as I can run I am grateful. It is tough at times but I know that I have to stay positive and optimistic.

Keeping a 9:00 pace or under on longer runs seems to be the key to keeping my body parts in check but it gets tough sometimes because I feel like I have the energy to run faster. It is not worth the consequences for the days to come so I have to run smart. I would love to run this race and give it my all but I don't think I can do that right now. Being out on the race course gives me a boost of energy and adrenaline that I don't get on my training runs. I can't lie. I know I will be tempted. My last long run went pretty well. The weather was perfect and my mental game was where it needed to be. The last five miles of my run were the best and my confidence level was lifted enough for me to feel like I can run my 21st half marathon.

Pace has not been my reason to run lately. I have kind of putting that on the back burner for now and I am just feeling grateful that I can run. You have to keep things in perspective during these times. If you have ever been injured, you know what it is like to not be able to run at all, right? I don't have a race plan for Sunday. I think that would just be too overwhelming for me right now. What I can tell you is that I will finish the race and I will run with my heart and be thankful that to be out there. I am really excited about my second Beach Cities Challenge medal that I will earn on top of the medal for just running the half marathon! Race bling always gets me excited!

Who else is running the OC Half/Full? 

Beach Cities Challenge?

I Finally Have Some Answers!

I finally have some answers as to what is causing the pain in my left knee. I am also relieved that I don't have what I would consider an "injury" that I brought on by running or doing something dumb. I am very grateful that nothing is torn and all ligaments and tendons appear to be intact. I have what is called a Baker's cyst behind my knee. This is basically what it is:

Source

What is a Baker's cyst?

A Baker's cyst is a pocket of fluid that forms a lump behind the knee. A Baker's cyst is caused when excess joint fluid is pushed into one of the small sacs of tissue behind the knee. When this sac fills with fluid and bulges out, it is called a cyst. The excess fluid is usually caused by conditions such as rheumatoid arthritis or osteoarthritis that irritate the knee. It may also be caused by an injury. Sometimes the pocket of fluid behind the knee can tear open and drain into the tissues of the lower leg. This can cause swelling and redness in that part of the leg. A Baker's cyst may go away on its own. If a cyst does not go away, or if it is causing a lot of pain, your doctor may drain the fluid with a needle. (source)

I have been in physical therapy for two months now and it seems to be helping. My doctor is hoping that the cyst will shrink on it's own or else he will have to drain it. I am trying to avoid that because I hate needles. I am thinking that I will have another MRI to confirm that the cyst is shrinking or if the pain goes away then I will know that it has and it will not be necessary.

I have been able to run while in physical therapy because I have not had pain while running. There are times that I still have the knee pain but it is always the day after. I also noticed that running hills also irritates my knee so I am trying to avoid hills as much as possible. I am going to continue to run but I have to take it easy for a while since anything over a 9:00 pace seems to trigger the pain the next day.

Running has been different lately. It hasn't been about pace at all but simply being grateful to run and accepting it for what it is. Having said that, I have decided that I am going to run the Surf City Half Marathon on Superbowl Sunday. I am thinking about completing the Beach Cities Challenge again because the medal is super nice.

I am not sure what to expect and I am going into this without a time goal. I know it will not be a PR but I will set a goal to finish the race. I know that I will get back to running the paces that I was before this knee problem so I have accepted that and I am looking forward to getting back into it when my time is right.

Who else is running Surf City next Sunday?

Half or Full Marathon?

5/5/13: OC Half Marathon

This makes half marathon #12 for me. This race brings me back to 2012 since it is the first race I ran coming back from my hamstring injury. It just so happened that my good friend Caroline is dealing with an injury this year so I decided to give her some support out on the course. I knew what this race meant to her. I knew she was determined to finish it. I knew she needed to finish this race so she could begin to deal with her injury. I knew I needed to be there with her to help her since her family was not going to be there as they always are.  This was her race. It was not mine.

Caroline invited me to stay at a local hotel with her since the race had a start time of 6:15 a.m. We went to the expo on Saturday afternoon and then had dinner at a local mall. We went back to our room and talked, drank tea, ate some snacks, laughed and then decided to call it a night around 11 p.m knowing that we needed to wake up at 4 a.m. to catch the 5:05 a.m. shuttle to the start. 

RACE DAY:
We hopped on the shuttle in the morning and arrived at the start with little time to spare.

 

We immediately made our way to the porta potties. The lines were really long and almost all of the them were out of toilet paper. By the time we got up there they were out of seat covers too since those became the toilet paper! People were not happy! I happened to have some napkins with me so I got lucky plus I squat and never ever sit!

We made our way into corral 5 and waited for our turn to start.It was 61 degrees and windy at the start but the weather turned out to be just perfect. The sun never came out the entire time we were out on the course.

 

Caroline did not want me to stay with her and she tried to get rid of me multiple times but I knew she needed me and I wasn't about to leave her on the course alone. I finally scolded her and told her to stop looking at me and focus on her race. She was threatening to run and telling me that I was going to have a horrible time on Athlinks.com and all sorts of crazy stuff but I just ignored her and distracted her by doing things like this.

 

I think she finally stopped trying to get rid of me at mile 12 since none of her threats were working! I just could not find the heart to leave her and I knew that the right decision was to stay with her and make sure she made it to the finish line. This was decided earlier in the week when I ran my half marathon on the treadmill the Friday prior to the race. That was an experience!

I enjoyed this race because I had the opportunity to appreciate the course and to see things that I would not normally notice or pay attention to. I was able to "stop and smell the roses," and sometimes you just need to do that. I noticed how beautiful the course was, the amazing homes along the course, children waving from their windows, all of the mile marker signs, all of the cute pets that were hanging out with their humans that were supporting the runners, acting silly for the photographers and I even noticed a home that still had their Christmas tree up! I never do these things because I zone out and just focus on finishing. 

The time passed very quickly even though we were walking/jogging the course. It was over before I knew it and I left Caroline around the 13 mile mark to run to the finish. I finished in 2:57:58 with a happy heart. I did not care about my time. I wanted to see Caroline finish her race and I know she wanted a finish line photo. She finished with her hand over her heart for Boston and she didn't vomit or have dry heaves! Sorry Caroline..I had to say that.

 

Her husband was not there to take her photos so I was her substitute photographer but with my iPhone. We hugged each other at the finish and had a little moment before we headed over to pick up her Beach Cities Challenge medal. I think she was happy and I was happy for her. This picture pretty much sums up the way we were feeling out on the course.

 

I can also tell you that walking a half marathon might sound easy but it is not. I was sore in places that I have never been sore before! I am now one race away from getting my Beach Cities Challenge medal! The last race in the series is the Long Beach Half Marathon which I will run in October. I can't wait to get my hands on that medal. 

13 in 2013

I can’t believe that we are entering the third week of February already! My year has started out great and I am excited to say that I have completed three half marathons to date for 2013. I actually joined "13 in 2013" so my goal will be to complete 13 races of various distances in 2013.

I am still looking for a March race and can’t seem to decide what distance I want to go for or how far I am willing to travel. I am trying to stay local so that I can avoid hotel fees since I still have about nine more months of the year to think about in terms of races. I think i have about exhausted my Vegas winnings on race entries and other running related things!

Everyone is talking about the Chicago Marathon today but as much as I am itching to register for it, I am going to have to pass this year. I am curious to see how soon it will sell out this year. My goal this year is to complete the Beach Cities Challenge so if all goes well I will be registering for Long Beach to complete the series. Long Beach happens to fall on October 13^th, the same day as the Chicago Marathon, and since I can’t be in two places at once, I am going to stick with my goal and run Long Beach instead. I plan to register for Long Beach by the end on the month before the price increase.

I had a good week was able to put in about 27 miles, including the Rock 'n' Roll Pasadena Half Marathon, which is about average for me. My miles are right where I like to see them so I am hoping that February will be a 100-mile plus month for me!

So who is running the Chicago Marathon? 
How long do you think it will take to sell out this year if it hasn't sold out already!

2/3/13: Surf City Half Marathon Recap

Half Marathon #9 is  done! It was definitely not my best race but I learned a lot from it. I am now very happy that I decided not the run the full marathon because it would have been less than spectacular! I do want to congratulate Megan who ran the full marathon and exceeded her goal. It was her very first marathon so please stop by her blog and give her some love!

I went to the Expo with Caroline on Saturday morning and we played photographer for one another. The weather was perfect on Expo day and I wish it would have been the same on race day.

Caroline and I talked the whole way to the Expo and the whole way back. We have some great conversations about everything from running to life in general. I actually thought of her several times during this race because she continues to run through some tough situations. She inspires me to keep going when I feel like giving up. Thank You Caroline for inspiring me, especially on this day.

The race was very well organized and even though there were almost 21,000 runners signed up, these people know how to handle things. The corrals were very easy to get into and there was very little crowding until the race was about to start. 

We didn't get stuck in traffic which we thought was bound to happen. Shuttles were provided free of charge from several locations to minimize the traffic issues. We were planning on valet parking at the host hotel which is right at the start but they raised their price to $35.00 on race day so I passed on that. We ended up parking in a residential area about 3/4 miles away and the walk was a good warm up for me. We waited at the host hotel until it was close to start time to use the restrooms and just relax a little. It was nice to have access to "real" bathrooms and not just the port-a-johns which I really dislike. The restrooms on the beach were also available for use so I never saw any big lines which is a big plus!

Most of the course takes place on Pacific Coast Highway and it's a beautiful view. I was hoping to feel some ocean breeze with all of the sun beaming down but that didn't happen. The race organizers did a great job of keeping the marathoner and the half marathoners separated so there weren't any issues with that. The course was not overcrowded either and most of the runners were half marathoners and women :)

I did a lot of things wrong which made this race less than enjoyable for me. I am in no way making excuses for my less than fabulous finish but just want to share some of things that I learned so that I don't repeat them in the future. The weather was supposed to be overcast and cool. The temperature was in the high 50's but the sun was out the entire time and there was no shade on the course whatsoever. I was looking for that break from the sun but it never happened. First of all, I was a little overdressed thinking that it was going to be cold since it was by the beach. I saw some posts on Facebook stating that it is very cold at the start which is wasn't. The weather was actually pretty nice when we arrived so I left my jacket in the car because I knew that I was not going to need it. I wore a really thick Lululemon shirt with my Flow-Y sports bra underneath. The shirt was new and I didn't realize how warm it was going to keep me. I thought about taking it off several times but was too embarrassed to run in a sports bra so I suffered instead. I didn't have sunscreen on all the places that the shirt covered so I didn't want to risk a sun burn either.

I also decided to try something new and carry my hand held water bottle. Carrying something in my hands for 13 miles was very annoying to me so I wish I would have stuck to my hydration belt instead. I am used to my belt and it works much better for me. I probably won't do that again either. I didn't even GU during this race because it was awkward trying to open the GU and hold the hand held at the same time. I know I am so lame!

Other than all of the mistakes I made, my shin starting bothering me at Mile 3 or so and I had to stop to stretch and figure out how to proceed with my race. I thought I was feeling good the first three miles but maybe I started to quickly and my shin was not happy. It was at this point that I decided to back off and just focus on finishing. Injury is no fun and it's never worth it! I was not happy but didn't want to make matters worse and I was not going to walk unless I absolutely had to. I texted my husband to tell him that my shin was acting up and that I was probably not going to make it in for a while. He told me to walk and take a break but I just wanted to finish as quickly as I could. I also witnessed a girl running next to me throw up and then I felt like I was going to be next one!

When we arrived back at the car after the race, we noticed another runner walking back and forth looking for his car. I felt bad for him and offered to help him look for his car. We drove around looking for his car and we found it. He was more than grateful for our help and I was glad that we were able to help someone. I went home feeling much better having done something to help someone else.

I finished in 1:53:26 but got this super cute surfboard medal which I love. I know that it is not a horrible time but it hurts when you know that you should have or could have done better. I am sure you all understand what I mean. I thought it was going to be a two hour finish so I am thankful that it was better than what I anticipated! I am okay with it today and I am moving on.

I know that every race is not going to be a perfect race and things can possibly go wrong. My main focus is on the Beach Cities Challenge medal and I have now completed my first race in the series. I saw the medal in person at the Expo and boy is she pretty!

Here are the ugly details if you are interested.

After the race I enjoyed the Superbowl with my family. Grandma came over and watched the game with us and she cooked some of her amazing food for us. She even made us some chocolate covered strawberries that were to die for!

I am not much of a football fan but I do enjoy the commercials. My favorite one was the Anheuser-Busch commercial with the Budweiser Clydesdale. I am an animal lover so naturally I cried. As a matter of fact, I don't think there was a dry eye in the room!

A Less Than Exciting Week and It's Race Week Again!

It's been a week since I last blogged! I guess that can be explained by my less than stellar week which included the following not so exciting events.

1) I had to report to Jury Duty but I was not selected to sit on a jury. I was relieved to say the least.

2) I  attended a funeral for a family member. My step-father's sister passed away and it was a very emotional funeral to say the least.

3) I cut my long run short. It rained for most of the weekend so I thought I would attempt 10 miles on the treadmill. FAIL! My run was horrible from the start and I felt like I was dying at a 9:30 pace. I then proceeded to torture myself by running a 7:30 mile to end the run. I felt better in the end but only ran 6.5 miles because 10 miles on the mill was just not happening! Anything past 8 miles is hard for me unless my treadmill buddy runs with me to talk and pass the time.

I have another half marathon on Super Bowl Sunday. It will be my second half marathon of the year. The race starts at 7:45 am and since I wussed out and transferred to the half marathon, my bib number is assigned to the very last wave with the 3:00+ group. Is it wrong for me to sneak into a wave that starts according to my half marathon pace? I have been told that the course has no shade and even though the weather is cool it is pretty sunny. The marathon starts at 6:30 am which is a much better but that is what I get for not running the marathon, right? On a positive note, I am pretty excited about running my first race in the Beach Cities Challenge series and the surf board medal is pretty cute too! I have no goals for this race. I have been pretty bad about setting goals lately. I just want to run pressure free. This year I really want to focus on improving my marathon time and that is kind of where my mind is at. 

I am hoping that this week is better than last week and that the weather is decent on Sunday. The forecast is predicting a high of 66 and a low of 54. I will take it.

Anybody else racing this weekend? 

Any big plans for Super Bowl Sunday?

I am not a big football fan but I will be watching it with my Grandma. She loves football! I do love the commercials though.

Are you focusing on a particular distance this year?

My mind is focused on the marathon but I haven't registered for one yet.

The New Love of My Life and Wussing Out

Isn't she pretty? I love her! I finally gave in and bought it. The words "Special Edition" forced me into buying it. My 305 has been acting up lately so it gave me a good excuse to buy this new 610. I played around with it a little bit last night and I am looking forward to taking her on a test run this weekend. I think I might even give her a name but I haven't thought of one yet.

Moving on to things that are not so exciting...I decided that I am going to run the Surf City Half Marathon and not the full. I know..I am a wuss! After carefully weighing out my options, I decided that I did not feel 100% confident with the training I have put in. I don't want to mess around the marathon anymore if I am not ready to get out there and take care of business. The next time I attempt a marathon, I am going to be ready to take it on. I am still on track for earning my Beach Cities Challenge medal and I will definitely be running this race for my Dad. I have not set a goal yet but I know that this race will be different because I will running it with my heart.

Do you have a name for your Garmin? If you do, tell me what it is!

Anyone else running Surf City with me?

Three Things Thursday

It has been a while since I have done a "Three Things Thursday" post so this will be my first one for 2013.

1) After my big win in Las Vegas we gave into the Mouse and decided to upgrade our Disneyland hopper tickets to annual passes. It was a difference of $54.00 per person so we decided to go for it. We absolutely love Cars Land and our favorite ride is the Radiator Springs Racers. It is so much fun! I also plan to get some use out of this pass the weekend of the Disneyland Half Marathon!

2)  I love this Year End Report that DailyMile sends out but it is kind of confusing if you are tracking how many miles you run in a year. This Year End Report includes all miles from cycling, elliptical etc. I think I only ran 883 mile and the rest was elliptical, walking and other activities. In any case, I am going to attempt 1200 miles this year and need to figure out a way to log my other activities so I can use DailyMile just for running miles only.

 3) I am determined to get my Beach Cities Challenge medal this year! I am signed up for two of the three races that are needed to complete the series. I am holding off on signing up for Long Beach in October since I am not sure if I want to run the half or the full. After the super hot summer we had in 2012, I am tempted to go for the half since training in the summer heat was brutal!

Recap of My 2012 Goals and My Goals for 2013

I can't believe another year has past! It was not the best year because I lost my Grandpa and my Dad is still battling cancer. I may not have accomplished all of my Running Goals but I did accomplish other important things in my life like finally earning my Master's Degree. 

I battled two injuries this year with my hamstring and then with my shin which really set me back on reaching my goals. When I look back at my Running Goals for 2012, I started out with 3 major goals for 2012:

1) Run 3 marathons in 90 days and become a Bronze level Marathon Maniac.  

Status: Goal not met. Why? That damn hamstring injury that had me sidelined for a few months!

2) Run the remaining two half marathons/marathons needed to earn the Beach Cities Challenge Medal in the OC.  

Status: In Process.  Once again injury stopped me from running and I broke the series which has to be ran consecutively or you must start over! I restarted the series with the OC Half Marathon in May, then broke the series again by not being able to run the Long Beach Half in October due to shin issues. If everything goes as planned, it looks like I will be starting the series for the third time by running the Surf City Marathon on February 3, 2013! 

3) Run a Marathon in under 4 hours.

Status: Goal not met. The plan is to continue to strive for this and February 3, 2013 will be another attempt for me while I run the Surf City Marathon in honor of my Dad.

4) Run 1200 miles in 2012.

Status: Goal not met. I only ran 993 miles. I was shooting for 1000 miles but missed a run. 

Races: I completed 7 races in 2012: 4 Half Marathons, 2-10K's and 1-5K. The only distance that I PR'd was the half marathon with a time of 1:46:58.

 So what are my Running Goals for 2013?

I have to say that my injuries certainly changed things for me in 2012! Slowly working my way back into running has been a challenge because I was coming off of a year where I PR'd in three distances (5K, 10K and 13.1) and I I was so eager to keep that streak going to into the marathon. As I slowly worked my way back from my injury, I had to accept things that I really didn't want to.  I went from running a 1:47 half marathon to an almost 2 hour half marathon. My ultimate goal is to qualify for the Boston Marathon so in order to accomplish this goal I have to become a stronger and faster runner. There is just no other way to get to Boston!

 Running Goals for 2013:

1)  Accomplish Goals 2 (Beach Cities Challenge) and Goal 3 (Sub Four Marathon) from 2012.  Goal #1 (Marathon Maniac) will be put on hold until I feel that I am strong enough to take it on and not risk another injury. Three marathons in 90 days is a lot of stress on the body and one needs to be in top shape to take on this challenge.

2) Stay Injury Free and be a smarter runner!  This should be Goal #1! I now know the warning signs of an injury and I need to be smart enough to back off when my body is sending me a message. I am also better at icing, foam rolling, stretching, using my Stick and knowing when a rest day is needed.

3) Continue to work towards that BQ.  I am not sure when it will happen or if it will ever become a reality but I am not giving up yet. 

4) Focus on the marathon!  I have yet to figure out this distance. I struggle the last 6.2 miles and I am not in love with the distance by any means. If only a marathon was just 20 miles!

5)  Earn a PR or 2!  I would love to improve my time in the shorter distances such as the 5K and 10K. I would also like to try a new distance. The 15K or 10 Mile race in 2013 interest me since I have been ran a race of these distances.

6) Run 1200 miles in 2013!

Races: So far I have five races on the Race Schedule including the Ragnar Relay which I am most excited about! I am also wanting to take on the Dumbo Double Dare but I am not sure yet.

I think that's it for 2013! I think these goals that are reasonable and achievable for me.

Did you meet your Goals for 2012? 

What are your Goals for 2013?  
I want to hear about them!

OC Half Marathon (My First Race Back Post Injury): 5/6/12

 This is first race back since my hamstring injury and it felt pretty good to be out there running like I did in the"old days!" My last half marathon was on January 29, 2012 and I have missed running so much. I have sat out four races this year because of my injury and I want to put those depressing days behind me. This race was really different from the others because it was not a race that I planned to PR at nor did I have any goals for this race with the exception of finishing and getting that first medal towards the Beach Cities Challenge.  This mind set was a little different for me this time around but I think the time off from running has given me a new perspective about running and the patience that I needed to execute a safe and smart race.

I was undecided as to whether or not I was going to run this race.  I wanted to be able to run 10 Miles without any pain and I was able to do that on the treadmill the Thursday before the race. I waited a couple of days to see if I developed any pain, discomfort or anything out of the norm.  I felt great but mentally I was still struggling with the idea. I prepared all of my gear for the race anyway and just waited it out.

 The Expo was at the OC Fair and Event Center, which also happens to be where the race ends. There was lots of parking but you had to pay parking for both the day of the Expo and race day. In spite of being undecided about running the race I went to the Expo since I needed the bib to run the race plus I decided that I would pick up my goodie bag since I paid for the race anyway. The Expo was a pretty decent size and was pretty crowded.  The Bib and Shirt pick up area was organized and moved fairly quickly which is a good thing.  We did a quick walk through the Expo and got suckered to buy a few things. My son loves going to the Expos because he loves to try all of the samples and spin all of the wheels in hopes of winning something.

I had actually signed up for the full marathon a while back knowing that I wanted to pursue the Beach Cities Challenge but after my injury I had to downgrade to the half marathon with hopes of being able to complete half of what I had planned on. It was a heart breaking decision but a very smart one. The decision to run the race was made when this happened on Sunday morning at 4:00am....

The OC Half Marathon was my first point to point race and the whole bus shuttle scenario was kind of stressful to me.  The race started at 6:15am and I was not on a bus heading to the start at 6:15am! I waited 45 minutes to get on a bus so I think it is best to have someone drop you off at the start to avoid having to be shuttled or be there an hour before your scheduled shuttle time. You live and learn, right?

My son really wanted to ride on the bus. Can you tell?

My bus arrived at the start around 6:35am and was one of the last buses to arrive. The start was about a three minute walk from the bus drop off location. I made a final stop at the porta potty and then lined up at the start and was off within a couple of minutes. I spent the first mile weaving in and out of traffic trying to find an open spot to settle into but that didn't really happen.  
Mile 1: 9:09

 I was well behaved and took some breaks, walked when I thought I needed to and based my race on how my body felt and not my pace. All of my training for this half was done on the treadmill so this was my first time stepping off the of mill.  It was a tough run and the treadmill training did me no justice because I have been running on the mill with minimal elevation.

 The course was not a difficult one but it did have a few hilly moments that were a little risky for me at this point. The course starts on a slight climb for the first mile, downhill on Miles 2 and 3 and then it's kind of up and down for the remainder of the course.  I had to slow myself down after the downhill miles.
 Mile 2:8:19
Mile 3: 8:24
Right before Mile 3 the course takes you by the water and it is pretty scenic and the breeze is refreshing. The weather was great as well.  It was 59 degrees at the start and about 63 degrees at the finish with overcast skies and no sun.

There were also a couple of times around Miles 6-8 where the course got really narrow and took the runners on a bike trail. This gets ugly when you have a bunch of people walking and you cannot get through or let alone move.  I don't have a problem with people walking but I guess it was just bad timing with the course becoming so narrow. 
Mile 6: 9:08
Mile 7: 8:53
Mile 8: 9:14

There was an ugly climb right at the end of Mile 1o! It didn't last long but I wasn't ready for it! Mile 10 ended up being my slowest mile,
 Mile 10: 9:22.

Based on these  signs you knew that the climb wasn't going to be fun!

I didn't look at my Garmin much at all which is pretty much unheard of me for me!  The only time I looked is when it beeped to tell me that I had completed another mile.  Based on what I saw, I adjusted my pace to keep myself from going too fast. For the most part, my miles were pretty close to 9:00 and that was comfortable so I tried to maintain that pace. Miles 12-13 were tough and I was getting tired.

Mile 12:8:56

Mile 13: 8:42

I did give myself a slight push the last quarter mile because I wanted to be done!  I was getting tired and I knew that the slower I ran the longer I was going to be out there.

 My official time was 1:57:57.  Nothing impressive for all of you speed demons out there but crossing that finish line was an incredible feeling for me! It was a feeling that I have never felt before! I am so thankful to be running again and even more grateful that I finished the race!

Can you tell that I was pretty tired?  I haven't seen 13.1 miles in a few months so I guess it shows! I wasn't in any pain at all during or after the race but my PT tells me to ice after a run so I was just being a good patient.

I know that I have lots of work to do! My next race, The Disneyland Half Marathon, isn't until September so I have plenty of time to train properly and get myself back into shape. I am also entertaining the idea of running the Long Beach Marathon at the end of this year.  If I am able, I will be running in honor of my Dad who is battling cancer. 

 I think it might be a little too soon to officially say that "I AM BACK" but things seem to be moving in the right direction!