Spring Races

I am so fortunate to have many friends who share in my hobby of running (I'm not sure it's really my hobby, more like an addiction- that by the way, I have really been weaning myself from this summer!) I think this post (two half marathons in a month) really burned me and I have enjoyed my little break this summer- just running short (3-5 mile) runs here an there.  Anyway...after my first half  mara in the fall, I knew it wouldn't be my last......so, I signed up for the Nashville Rock and Roll half marathon on April 28th....and for whatever reason (I called it training for the Nashville race), I signed up for the Germantown half marathon in March.  I was really proud of myself in the improvements I made from my first race.  I improved my time by 12 minutes from the first to the second!  I ran the Germantown in 2:02 (a 9:20 pace) and felt really good the whole race...it was just one of those good running days for me.  

 Nicole and I at the Germantown Half Marathon

My Nashville trip was with two great friends, Kasey and Noel (and Kasey's friend, Meagan from Knoxville).  It was a great weekend....except for those 2 hours and 8 minutes I was running....that was pretty miserable, well, at least the last hour of it!! The heat and the hills were a rough combination.  I had heard stories of the "hills of Nashville", but really, I wasn't ready for those hills, we don't have those in Covington:)  My goal was really to keep up with Kasey, she's a little faster runner than me, so I told her I was gonna stay with her as long as I could.  Well, I did it!  She beat me by 1 second!! We crossed the finish line together- grabbed a bunch of food and drinks, hit the port a potty and headed back to the finish line to watch Noel cross!

Pre-race in the port a potty line

The finish line...this is where I stood and watched the marathoners finish in their separate lane and had this  internal drive to sign up for one....which I did....will be running the St. Jude full  in Dec. with all of my friends in these pics- Nicole, Kasey, and Noel!!

Post race - so thankful for this faithful friend,  she's pretty special to me!

My box of food after the race- they had great goodies!! And no, I didn't drink that chocolate milk after the race!! Kasey told me it was great post race, but I tried  one drink and said, "nah, not for me, I will stick with gatorade!!!"

Headed out to celebrate our race ( really we just wanted to eat!!)