Happy Runniversary...

This Saturday was my 1 year runniversary with my friend Jill. Last year we ran our first 5k together (and thought we were dying in the process.) This year we ran the half marathon that was part of the same race. It fell in with our taper so it worked out good for us.  As you can tell from the above picture, we've changed a lot in a year.

It was a rather chilly morning to start. I may look a tad under dressed here but let me tell you, I did not regret this wardrobe decision once I started running. The temp was in the low 40's, it was rainy and windy. FANTASTIC weather for a run...... NOT! 

I put my game face on though (yes, that's my game face) and we celebrated this runniversary properly with a PR!   Let me start by saying that we did not go out to PR.  We were going to run a nice easy pace and throw in some faster miles to spice it up a bit but once we started running, we started out pretty fast and we stayed pretty fast. We had about a 10:12 average pace and we stayed pretty consistent the entire time. This was a hilly course and we powered through those hills like champs. We ran fast up the hills and took it easy on the down side.  When I looked down at my watch at mile 11 and saw that we were at 1:51 I knew we were on target to finish under 2:15.  THIS was highly motivating to keep going those last couple miles and to really push it coming in to the home stretch. When we were about a quarter mile away I started to cry. We were doing it!  We saw the clock and we sprinted for the finish line.  Jill and I ran into the finish hand in hand, even though there were no photographers there to catch it.  We finished together for the first time ever. My official time was 2:13:45, her's 2:13:44 (her winning streak continues) Side note to Jill....... You're going down some day.  Down I tell you!  

Anyways, I cried at the finish line, in between dry heaves, I sobbed. I PR'd by 8 minutes!  I'm fairly certain this record will stand for a while. 

 I ran this race for my brand new IRun4 running buddy, Emma!  I wore a yellow ribbon with her name on it to remind me of her while I was running. Emma has spina bifida so since she can not run, I will be her legs and I will run those miles for her! She kept me going strong when I felt like I wanted to quit.   October is Spina Bifida awareness month so stop over by http://spinabifidaassociation.org/ to learn more about spina bifida and what you can do to help prevent it.

 After we were done with the race we stopped by one of my favorite burger joints, The Pint Room, to grab a celebratory drink and meal. It was a good day. Thanks for everyone's support through this journey. The BIG day is just 2 weeks away. I'm getting excited and nervous about the full marathon but I'm looking forward to the challenge!

P.S.   I am told that I need to make amends as my friend Jill feels she has been portrayed as a horrible person in my first blog post. Jill is a a wonderful, amazing, supportive, up for anything kind of friend.  She may kick my but about 90% of the time but she's there when it counts lol.