Kellen and I before the race
So this was my 8th time participating in the Lincoln half. I have seen it grow from 2000 finishers in 2002 to nearly 9000 this year. It's crazy how much it's exploded over the years. And why is that?! Because the Lincoln Marathon is an exceptionally well run race. The half marathon is a difficult, yet attainable challenge. Or maybe it's just that they opened registration at midnight on New Year's Eve when people have probably consumed too much Diet Pepsi??
Whatever the reason, people love this race. And it's a big deal.
After putting in all of the work I possibly could have, I felt physically ready for the distance. I am usually not a person who puts all of their stock into one event, but other than Market to Market, I do not have solid plans after I ran Lincoln. That made me really nervous...what if I ran horribly? What if I got sick? What if I got injured?
Luckily none of those things happened. (I did have a muscle pain the day before by my sacroiliac bone but after some ibuprofen and some rest that night, it was gone on Sunday morning.) Since I was pregnant the last two runnings of the race, I had not participated since 2011 and some changes were put in place. Philip and Emilie told me that last year, they got to stay warm inside the colluseum beforehand. This was actually great...we got to stretch, use the restroom, meet our friends, etc. before the race. I took my phone with me this year (using an armband) so I would be able to find everyone after the race. Of all the changes that have taken place over the years, another one is that we now finish inside the stadium. While it's cool (I guess), it's not very conducive to spectators or getting reconnected with your family afterwards. Anyway.
I started the race with Ann and Amy (Women Run Nebraska teammates) and actually followed through with not starting my watch. It was a really different feeling starting out at such a fast pace, and although I felt good, I was worried about whether I'd be able to sustain that pace for the entire race. The Lincoln course is not known for its hills (other than mile 9), but after doing the majority of training on the treadmill, I felt EVERY up and EVERY down. Mile 5 is fabulous. That sucker is almost entirely downhill. (It would have been fun to have a GPS on to see how fast that mile ended up.) At the bottom of the hill, my brother-in-law Josh was cheering with Quinn. I was so excited to see Quinn (well, you too, Josh...) that I almost burst into tears. After turning onto the trail on Highway 2, it took me a few minutes to adjust to the fact that I was no longer going down. I was still feeling decent and figured that I was on pace for my goal time since I was mostly surrounded by guys.
When I hit the famed hill at mile 9, I accepted that I would slow down a bit, but knew I would recover and be able to get back on pace....which (luckily) is what happened. I felt good up until mile 11, but at that point I knew I was almost in. I saw Joni (who was running the full marathon) in front of me at mile 12, and finally broke down and asked her what time we were at. I figured if it was at 1:25, then I'd make it in by 1:34 at the latest. I was surprised to hear that we were at 1:23..yippee!! Between learning that I was going to come in where I wanted and the downhill final mile, I finished strong in 1:31:10. I was the 23rd women to cross the finish line.
Ann finished right after me (great job, girlie!) and we met Amy in the finish scute...Amy gave birth to her second child in January, but ran amazingly and earned a brand new, shiny PR of 1:29. So cool!
Philip came in shortly after. Now, listen to THIS if you want a bit of inspiration...this is Philip's fourth time running 13.1. Here are his times: 1:56 (2011), 1:51 (2012), 1:47 (2013), and this year...1:41!!! If this doesn't show how much hard work pays off, I'm not sure what will. I am so proud of my hard-working hubby! My sister also ran a 6 minute PR dropping her time from 1:49 to 1:43. I'm telling you...hard work pays off!
I'm going to end this entry with a shout out to my sister-in-law Kellen. Kellen signed up for the half marathon so she could run it in honor of her sister Korey, who was tragically killed in a car accident last year. Korey had signed up to run the half but was unable to complete the race, so Kellen trained for it and ran it for her yesterday. What a beautiful showing of love for her sister. I am so happy and proud of her accomplishment! :)
Congratulations to everyone who participated in yesterday's Lincoln Marathon. You are all inspiring those around you to achieve great things. Happy running!
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