The Expeditions of Team E: NS Half Marathon Race Report

This Thanksgiving weekend was the third annual North Shore Half Marathon and the first half marathon race for me in 6 years. The last half marathon I ran was the 2003 Hogeye Half Marathon in Fayetteville, Arkansas!

I didn't really have a goal in mind when the race started but I knew that a PB was possible. I have been doing some great training with Steph and Shannon and have pushed myself much harder than normal with weekly tempo runs, hills and speed work. Thanks girls!

The race started off downhill, so I tried to take it easy and get into a good tempo. Although I was a little chilly starting off, I quickly warmed up when I hit the hilly section of the course along Dollarton Highway. I wore my Garmin and was a little concerned when I was averaging under 7min/mile pace, but I felt good and went with it. Around mile 8 I started to feel as though I went out a little too quickly and tried to settled into a more reasonable pace (7:20/mile) that I could maintain for the final 5 miles. As we neared the finish line I was quite surprised to look down at my watch and see that I would be finishing under 1:40. In fact, I finished in 1:30:31 which was good enough for 3rd in my age group, 6th female overall and a 20 minute PB. Not a bad start for Ironman training, eh?!

I am not sure what is up next as Mark and I are off to Jamaica Nov 9th for our "better late, than never" honeymoon. Depending on how things go, I may do the Seattle Half Marathon at the end of November. For right now I will keep training with the girls and start getting into a more structured Ironman training plan when we get back from our honeymoon!