Route 66 Half Marathon - 19/11/06 - PR 2:19:13

I rocked Route 66. I got my kicks and I smashed my target of 2:20:40. Not by much, admittedly, but by enough to make me a very proud young lady. And look, here I am after the race still standing and still smiling!

It went really well, it was a very cold but sunny start but as you can see from the picture it was sunny by the end. I positioned myself in with the 4:45 marathon pacers and I figured that they would get me started on about the right pace though of course as soon as the big gun went off.



Of course that plan didn't work and I got over excited and perhaps took off a little too quick off the mark.

I was feeling strong though and sticking with it. I was actually on target for around a 2:15 despite the hills and motorway on-ramps that they had neglected to tell me about when I signed up (Oklahoma is supposed to be flat and I've had no hills to practice on.) Unfortunately though about 4 miles out from the finish my hip started giving me jip and I had to stop and stretch which took me 2 minutes off pace. Magically though the stretching worked and the last two miles I must have done in a 8-9 minute pace which is insane as I usually run at 12 minutes per mile! I guess the signs along the course about "Digging deep and aiming high" and "Pain is fleeting, a PR is for life" must have struck a chord!

I'm very content, the stretching seems to have worked and my hip is no longer giving me any jip (though I think that might be in store for me tomorrow) I'm going to take ibuprofen for any possible swelling and maybe ice a few joints. Anyway now we are home and I'm about to check my bank account to see if I have the available funds to sign up for the Oklahoma City Marathon in April. If there's a bug, I believe I've caught it!