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Tucson Half Marathon

I'm doing a double-post day...because I don't know when I'll be back on my blog to recap the memories! ;)

On December 6, Ryan and I did the Tucson Half Marathon. It was Ryan's 1st half marathon ever. I was on a mission to PR. We both had a successful day.

I 1st have to say how impressed I am with Ryan. He is not big on long distance running. And during the training, he had a flare-up of knee pain which had him out of running for 3 weeks before the race. To be honest, he didn't really train for this race.

He wasn't going to do the race, but Sunday morning at 4am, when I was getting ready to leave -- he decided to give it his best! And that he did. He finished in 1:43:10, just a few minutes behind me! That is not bad for a 1st half marathon, especially not training!!

(and was a good sport about his wife beating him....)

We stuck together for the 1st 5 miles, met up again around 8-9miles, and then I took off with adrenaline. I definitely ran the fastest I've ever gone. I finished in 1:40:25, which was a 7:39 pace! I got 6/69 in my age group, 29/572 for women, and 100/977 overall!

Even during the last 3 miles, which were quite hilly, I was still able to keep a 7:50/mile pace. So now my hopes/expectations for my full marathon in February has "shifted". But I'm not going to put too much pressure on myself.

I have figured out that if I can run a 3:35 marathon (8:12/mile avg pace), I can qualify for Boston. Which is a dream that I have fantasized about for years.

So my currently marathon training has a new flavor...which you will unfortunately have to hear about in the next post (yawn) ;).

We look sweaty, but we were actually quite chilled in this picture. It was about 40 degrees. Which I know my midwest friends will laugh at me for calling this "chilly". It was perfect running conditions! 


Comments

Lisa's Yarns said…
Congrats to both of you! I think Ryan's time is AMAZING for a first 1/2 - or any half actually. I am pretty sure I could never run a half that fast so he should be proud of his time! And congrats to you for running such a strong race, too, and surprising yourself! I'm excited to see what you do at the marathon. It will certainly be a PR given how strong you are running these days. BQ'ing would be awesome, too, but try not to put too much pressure on yourself to do that (plus these days it seems like you need a 2-3 minute cushion to get into Boston which is such a bummer!). I know you'll do great out there, though, and it seems like if there was ever a year to BQ, this would be it for you since you are feeling strong and healthy!!

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