Half Marathon PR

This weekend I ran the Runnning with the Cows Half Marathon in rural Bucyrus, KS. Lauren ran with me. Naturally, it was cold-ish and rainy the morning of. We had plans to leave around 6:15 AM. I awoke in a panic at 6:26 and immediately called Lauren. I got ready very quickly, but did not have time for a sufficient oatmeal breakfast as planned. Our official race taxi driver and supporter, Travis, drove us rapidly all the way out to 223rd street. (Props to Travis for coming out to support after a bachelor party, and only 4 hours of sleep.) Our arrival time was actually just perfect. We had time for a quick trip to the restroom, and not too much time to stand in the rain before the start.

It rained. And we ran, and ran. We saw running cows, cheering high schoolers, heard cow bells, had really annoying people running near us (whom we later passed in amazing victor), and saw people going to the bathroom in the wide open. Lauren and I split at about mile 8 and I kept her in my very close sights the rest of the way. The second half we really kicked it on and were passing people the whole way (which felt really amazing!). In the last 1.5 miles, Lauren passed our nemesis "man lady," and I rejoiced for her! About a half mile later, I passed man lady! We both beat man lady! And, I ran a personal record by almost 5 minutes. 5 minutes! Not only that, but Lauren and I both placed first in our age group! First! Overall, it was a huge celebration, here are the results. We celebrated our victory over man lady with a trip to the only Dunkin' Donuts within at least 100 miles, where we order 25 little munchkins and devoured them.

Oh, did I mention the finishers medal is a cow bell! Here we are post race, in the rain.

From here I proceeded to shower and re-warm myself, eat, and nap. Later in the day Judith and I went for a shopping spree (which was really that, a spree of about 6 hours of shopping). It was really great to have some girl time and buy some well fitting clothes. And we topped it off with a fabulous girl's night out, full of dancing and fun until the wee hours of the morning. It was a true slumber party weekend since Judith was staying at our place.

Lauren wants me to run another half with her in June, and I am considering. I'll keep you updated. This weekend we are off to MI yet again, for a family wedding this time. I am really looking forward to seeing so many fun people!