Well, Sunday morning saw me getting up at 4:30 a.m. to make the hour drive into Atlanta to run the Georgia Half Marathon. Last year I did the race and it was my first 'big' event so I was excited to run it again and compare how I felt and hopefully get a better finish time!
The race began at 7am but it took about 10 minutes for my start corral to make it up to the start line. (About 18,000 people run the event, which includes a full marathon and half marathon) My running buddy and I were able to maintain a good, steady pace throughout, stopping every 14 minutes for a 1 minute walk (less than 10 minutes walking total). It was a great, somewhat hilly course and the weather was perfect, cool and cloudy (once the sun came up).
When we ran this race last year, I was exactly 50 lbs heavier and had an injury with my hip which slowed me down. I finished in 3:03. This year I was hoping to finish in 2:20 although I would have been happy with anything under 2:30. I was overjoyed when I saw that we finished in 2:12! We kept a 10-minute mile pace for 13.1 miles.
And the best part (well, one of them) is that I didn't have any pain issues afterwards. My quad muscles were a little tight today but nothing major.
I've already got two more half marathons planned for this year and will be doing this race again in 2012!
Here's a photo comparison of me from the morning of last year's race and this year's. And a pic of the newest medal in my growing collection.
