Big Lake 1/2 marathon

Kevin and I have been training for a 1/2 marathon up at Lake Winnepasaukee (yes, the same as in the movie "What About Bob") for a few months now. I am glad that Kevin kind of talked me back into training for a 1/2 marathon. I have been a big running slacker lately and after this race (even though it was really hard for me) I remembered how much I love running these races with Kevin and sharing this experience with him. I have to say that now that I am getting older it is getting a lot harder to just push your body without being "in shape" for the race. I totally thought that I had done enough to be able to beat my last time at the race, but now that I have a heart rate monitor I have noticed that as long as I am in the mid 175 or lower, I can perform at a much higher level. It did not help at all that by mile 7 I was already into 185 and I could feel my energy depleating really quickly. I am going to have to do a lot more hill work outs to make sure that my heart rate can handle this strain. I was still pleased with my outcome. I have not done any races for about 1 year and a half and I did beat my last 1/2 marathon time by quite a bit. I think my time was right around 1:58 minutes and I ended up taking 3rd place in my division of "Athena" (for anyone that does not know what this means it is for women 140 pounds or more). It is actually nice that they even offer this division, how can I compete with ladies that only weigh 100 lbs.? Kevin ended up finishing at 1:51 and he was thrilled. Like I say in my blog heading... he is in the middle of training for his first triathlon of the year in 3 weeks and he is swimming, running and biking right now and getting really strong. I was very proud and happy for him to be able to beat his previous times. It turned out to be a gorgeous day and my parents and Crystal and Judson were there with Carley and Zack to cheer us on.

By the time my parents saw me at the end of the race my mom told me that I looked like I was forgetting to breath. The last 2 miles were the hardest ever. At least I know that I could not have pushed it any harder during this race.

The weather was supposed to be rainy and cold and it ended up being sunny and warm. I have to say that it was fabulous and the lake was beautiful. Afterward I noticed that my toenail was jamming so much against my shoe that it made the nail get a blister underneath and it is no longer attached completely to the toe. The things we do for running. I am trying to decide if I want to train for the Hartford, CT marathon in the fall. I am already half way there. It would be fun to be able to train with Kevin for it.

Here Kevin is racing past people in his final mile. He looks like he is not having a rough time at all. Way to go Kevin!