Monster Dash Half Marathon Race Recap

I finally had a great half marathon!  I felt strong just about the whole race and never needed to take a walking break (well maybe once for less than a minute on that one hill toward the end that seemed giant…).  I achieved my goal of under 2:30, with an official time of 2:29:26.

It was the perfect weather for running, in the low 40s and a nice sunny day.  Anna ran with me the whole way, and we both felt like the miles just flew by so quickly!  It was really fun to run with her and get a PR!  During the race we talked about how we both want to run the Disney World Marathon someday, maybe 2015?  However, after we reached the finish line, I just couldn't quite imagine doing that distance twice in a row, so I guess I'm still undecided about running a full marathon.  

The last 2 miles were tough, but I was still able to finish relatively strong.  I did have some flashbacks to the Women Rock race because the last part of the course was the same as this race.  I remember how awful I felt during that race, and I'm so glad I got a chance to redeem myself!  Anna, Tasha and I all signed up for the whole monster series for 2014, so we will be doing the Polar Dash 14 mile, Get Lucky HM, Minneapolis HM, and the Monster Dash HM again next year.  I can't wait to work on my speed over the next year and just keep improving.  It's good to have some running buddies to race with, and I am very excited for my running BFF Jackie to have her baby next April so we can run another race together soon!

Twin Cities 10 Mile Race Recap

On Sunday I was lucky enough to run the Twin Cities 10 Mile "The Shortcut to the Capital"!  The race  shares the last 6.2 miles and the finish line with the Twin Cities Marathon, so it was fun to get the marathon experience without actually having to run 26.2 miles!  This race went SO MUCH BETTER for me than my half marathon just five weeks prior.  I was really nervous going into it, especially because was running alone so I had to navigate the start line and everything by myself.  However, everything went so smoothly and I felt great the whole time!  The weather was just perfect, around 50 degrees with the sun coming up just as we started running.

The course was beautiful and it almost made me consider signing up for the full marathon next year.  I'm still not sure I want to do a marathon but it sure was inspiring to run past those mile markers 20-26! The last mile is the best because it's all downhill and you can see the finish line in the distance!

ok, not the greatest picture but this is when I got my first glimpse of the finish line...you can see the capital and the giant American flag is where the finish was

I didn't eat breakfast before the race, instead I just had UCAN protein powder about 30 minutes before the start of the race.  That ended up being a great strategy and I felt good for the whole 10 miles without feeling like I needed any fuel.  I sipped Nuun electrolytes a few times that I had brought with me on my water belt, and stopped at just two water stops.  I really hope to repeat this strategy successfully for the Monster Dash coming up on October 26!

When I got to the finish line, I was surprised to hear someone yelling my name; it was my mom and her friend Linda who had come down to cheer for me at the finish and give me a ride back to my car!  I was so happy that my mom got this great picture of me finishing:

I was really happy with my results; 1:51:48 almost a full hour faster than the half marathon!  This race gave me my confidence back and I know that the sub 2:30 half is definitely doable for me in a few weeks.