minneapolis half marathon

So the husband and I ran the Minneapolis Half Marathon last weekend as a training run for Grandma's.  It's pretty funny that I no longer consider a half marathon to be a long run.  Really??  13.1 miles NOT a long run?  Yeah, whatever.  It's still a frickin' long way for my feet to carry me.

Anywhoo, it was a gorgeous day for a run. Sunny out, nice little breeze, and because it's a training run, I took it nice and easy - no pushing! Felt great the whole time, although I was a little tired at the end. (It was hot out and I'm a wuss in the heat. I may have mentioned my heat-wussiness once or twice or a million times before.) 

This is a really fun run.  Lots of spectators, and I have fond memories of getting hit on and hearing "Bitter Hag!" shouted at me. And in 2010, it was my first ever half marathon.

The husband got a 7 minute PR so he's pretty pumped about that! 

I tried to take pictures with my iPhone but somehow had it set on video and my aging eyes didn't detect that little detail in the bright sunlight. Oh well.  We asked some poor, unsuspecting fellow runner to take our photo and he was the one who discovered the setting on the phone.  Doh!

Another photo fail. Like my eyes wide shut talent, it's a gift.

The husband is so cute!

Poser.

I think my feet may be bigger than the husband's.
Or maybe it's the yellow shoes.
Or maybe my feet are just really huge.

Mmmmmm, beer!

So, I mentioned the sun, right?  And you know that I'm a fair-skinned Irish lass, yes?  Well, I had a little trouble with the sunscreen application.  Clearly, I will require assistance if I'm going to get adequate coverage.  After last year's melanoma scare, I'm already a sunscreen nazi, so I really have no excuse for my sloppy coverage job.  Maybe because it was 5 a.m. when I applied it???  I'm wondering if I completely ignored my back.  Sometimes I only shave one armpit, and completely forget about the other one, and only notice it later when I'm putting on my deodorant.....so maybe this is the same sort of thing...or maybe I'm just kind of a dipshit sometimes.

Another example of my most excellent photography skills.
Trying to get a shot of my sunburned back in the mirror.  

Sometimes the husband questions my need for blog documentation......

Ignore the messy bathroom please, and just focus on the sweet tan sun lines.
Kids, don't let this happen to you!

So back to the race....

It was a lovely run and I didn't bonk like last year.  Score! GarminElectra was my friend and stayed with me the entire time. My splits are kind of all over the map.  I was supposed to run 11:15 pace (according to my training plan) but crap, it's just not easy to run that slowly! So I just went by feel - if I was starting to breathe hard at all I slowed down.  Just tried to keep it comfy.  The new kicks seemed to work pretty well, but have since been giving me blisters. I have no idea which shoes I'm going to wear for Grandma's.  That will give me something to obsess over during the next 8 days.

Note to the people handing out orange slices around mile 11: You probably intended the oranges for the marathoners, not us lowly half-marathoners. (I'm guessing that based on your "You want one?  Really????" comment.  But you didn't hesitate to hand one over. You rock.) I LOVE to eat oranges when I'm running long distances - so refreshing!  So thanks!!!

And the splits.  My "official" time was 2:16:35. Pretty close to GarminElectra time!

Split	Time	Distance	Avg Pace
Summary	2:16:36.3	13.18	10:22
1	10:46.3	1.00	10:46
2	10:30.4	1.00	10:30
3	10:23.6	1.00	10:24
4	10:35.9	1.00	10:36
5	10:09.4	1.00	10:09
6	9:54.4	1.00	9:54
7	10:52.4	1.00	10:52
8	10:55.0	1.00	10:55
9	9:51.3	1.00	9:51
10	10:44.9	1.00	10:45
11	9:56.2	1.00	9:56
12	10:22.0	1.00	10:22
13	9:53.8	1.00	9:54
14	1:40.7	0.18	9:32

Only 8 more days!  I'm starting to check the weather now.....and I'm experiencing new aches and pains...... and I'm wondering if I can REALLY run 26.2 miles again.....Tapering really messes with your head.  Time to get a grip!