My first Half Marathon

This spring was a crazy one for me. 4 weeks after Del Sol Ragnar I was all ready to run my first half marathon. I wasn't sure what to expect from a half marathon to begin with and on top of that I had decided to do one that was mostly mountain trails instead of pavement. I had always thought that if I did a half marathon I would want to finish under 2 hours, knowing that goal was attainable if I trained hard and treated my body right, but also knew it would challenge me. That 2 hour goal is probably what made me the most nervous about the race. I didn't want to be disappointed in myself after training and running 13.1 miles.
I did a lot of hill training to get ready for the trail. I found a nasty hill a few miles from home and would go there 1-2 times a week and sprint up and down that thing as many times as I could. 2 weeks before the race, Kirt took me to some of his favorite trails and we did 10 really tough miles together in pretty good time and I was feeling pretty confident. The week before the race we headed out to the trails again for my final long run and it started to rain on the drive there. By the time we reached the beginning of our trail the wind had picked up and the rain was coming down in sheets, sideways. We had to turn around and come home without getting my last big run in. My confidence took a nose dive, but the race was happening ready or not.
Game day arrived. Still not knowing what to expect, I was up early ready to go. Once we got to the start line it was a party. We're in the middle of a neighborhood at 7:00 am with a DJ set up in a driveway bumping the jams and before I knew it, we were off! I took the first 3 miles pretty slow to get warmed up and just as I was feeling good the trail started. What I didn't realize was that the trail was narrow and allowed for a single-file line of runners so the order was set. Every once in a while something would open up and you could sprint ahead of a few runners, but for the most part the pace was set by the runner in front of you. It was nice and comfortable and I wasn't keeping track of time since there was not much I could do about it. I knew the last and biggest hill would be nearing the end of the trail and things would open up after that.
Getting to the top of that hill was tough. Just as I thought I was nearing the top, the trail would switch and take you up a different side. We rounded corner after corner to find hill after hill. But when we finally reached the top, the reward was sweet. Huge downhills for the next several miles. As the trail opened up I looked at my time and I was 8 minutes behind pace for the time I wanted. The sub 2 hour goal was history. So I re-focused, set a new goal to come in under 2 hours and 5 minutes and took off. I took advantage of the downhill and let my body relax and go with it. Before I knew it I was nearing the finish and feeling pretty good. As I rounded the corner for the finish I was definitely feeling the mileage but it was almost over! I gave it everything I had and as I cleared the last corner I heard Kirt start yelling for me. I sprinted to the finish in 2:01 finishing my last 5 miles in under 40 minutes - by far my fastest time ever. I couldn't have pretended to be disappointed if I wanted to, mission accomplished.

Gay talked us into doing this crazy race and the week before homegirl came down with West Nile Virus or something and was not feeling it. She showed up ready to go, but told us to go up ahead and not worry about sticking with her. At mile 5 I dropped my chap stick and glanced back to see where it landed and I hear Gay yelling "I got your number KP!" Made me laugh for a few miles back then, made me laugh as I typed it just now. She's going to tell you she's not competitive but I know she's looking to redeem herself!