more about Sunday and my half marathon!

So, as you may have saw, yesterday I ran my own personal Half Marathon! Lets call it the Pleasant Lake Half Marathon haha.

My training this weekend called for an actual half marathon, and while I would have loved to run one, there was not a half marathon on yesterday in the state of MI. Or at least not one that I could find (there was one saturday but I had to work :( )

SO I took it upon myself to run some new routes, and it was a great run.

As soon as I started, I could feel I was pushing my pace more than I have on my other long runs, but it felt right. So I kept at it.

The first half of my run was really quite flat, just a few small hills. The second half was a different story. I knew that the last three miles or so would be hilly, but all the miles before that were roads I had never run, and therefore had no idea what they would hold. Around mile 5 is when the terrain got hill-tastic. But thats a good thing! Kalamazoo is hilly, and I need the practice. So I just pushed forward. :)

Here are my splits:

Mile 1 10:57

Mile 2 11:01

Mile 3 10:57

Mile 4 11:00

Mile 5 11:00

Mile 6 10:59

Mile 7 10:50

Mile 8 11:11

Mile 9 11:20

Mile 10 11:11

Mile 11 11:31

Mile 12 11:24

Mile 13 10:51

last .1 at 9:51 MPH pace

I remember Mile 7 very well. I was on an excellent gradual downhill for a lot of it. My breathing was deep and steady, and my stride was long and strong. Ahh it felt amazing. That mile was just...so freaking wonderful...Anywho...

Miles 10 and 11 were just hard. Mile 11 I almost stopped to walk but I was soo thirsty at that point I didnt let myself because I wanted to get home to a glass of water haha.

I am really proud of this run. It is a 55 second (unofficial) PR :) It gives me confidence that when I run the Lansing Half Marathon towards the end of April, I will be able to PR (hopefully, if all the stars align ;-)). Lansing is a "flat/fast" course, so...!!

Anywho, after my run I did my usual post run stuff and then headed to Detroit for the day. I saw my mom and dad, and then met up with my sister to try on bridesmaid dresses for her wedding in October.

It was an all around great Sunday :)

And now I gotta get off this computer and get ready for work!