Wednesday, June 3, 2015

Dam to Dam Half Marathon

I did it, I ran the Dam to Dam half marathon!

Heading into this race I knew my performance would not be at the level I wanted.  Due to my inconsistent training because of my ab issue and running on just about 3 hours of sleep.  Despite those issues I was excited and looking forward to the race.

Friday night my nephew Reggie graduated from high school, my sister Jenn (who ran the race with me) and I went to the graduation at 7pm and headed to Des Moines after 10pm.  We didn't make it to our brothers house until after 12am and we had to be to the buses heading to the dam at 5am.

When I first woke up I felt horrible but once we were on the bus and surrounded by other runners I started feeling excited and more awake.  It was a chilly morning, about 55 degrees, windy and it was sprinkling.  When we got to the dam we met up with my bestie Shalae, huddled under some trees and tried to stay as warm as we could before the race began at 7am.

Shalae and I have now officially ran three half marathons together.  After our first one we said we would never do it again, but after giving it another go we really do enjoy them :)

Shalae ran with another one of her friends and I ran with Jenn.  My pace was slower than normal but it worked out perfectly because I got to run with Jenn the entire race.  The cool weather felt awesome, it was packed at the start of the race on the two lane road of the dam but that helped block some of the wind :)

I really felt good most of the run, my lungs were great it was my legs that gave out in the end.  I only ran 30 miles in April and 28 miles in May, not good mileage at all!  My legs gave out at mile 12, after that it was completely mental just repeatedly telling myself I could run that last 1.1 miles.  Jenn started picking up the pace and I stayed back.

Not my best race but I did run the entire time and my official time was still faster than my first half marathon.  I was so proud of Jenn, this was her first half marathon and she was terrified, but she did AWESOME!!!

We have already decided we will be running the NewBo Half Marathon in Cedar Rapids in September.  I WILL get in the proper training for that one!

My brothers Larry, John and John's girlfriend Elizabeth came to cheer us on.  I stayed in Des Moines that night and had a great time at The Wine Experience enjoying some pasta and wine.  We ended the night with a competitive game of Monopoly :)  

I headed home on Sunday feeling good and played sand volleyball for two hours Sunday night.  I've rested up this week so far and am looking forward to getting into a real training routine with my running and weights.  Time to start working toward new goals :)


15 comments:

  1. One of my friends lives in Iowa and she runs this one every year. She said it is a great race but really hilly! Great job!

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  2. Wow. On such a little amount of sleep! Awesome result... no wonder that you are motivated to do it again!

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  3. Wow ambitious to do the race with graduation the night before! Congrats on your time that always feels good :)

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  4. Congrats on a strong finish despite little sleep! Dam to Dam is a hilly one to this flatlander.

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  5. Wow, I'm impressed that you ran this race even with graduation the night before. Way to go!

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  6. Woohoo! Congrats!! I'm always so nervous the night before a race that I don't get much sleep, but you're right that the crowd of other runners really gives you an energy jolt!

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  7. Good job pushing through on such little sleep! I can never sleep well the night before a race.

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  8. Sounds like a wonderful day! Way to get it done with all the other events going on! Congratulations!

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  9. Congrats on the race! Not all races will be personal bests, but as long as you enjoy yourself (and don't get hurt) that's all that matters!

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  10. Congrats! I won't have another chance to do a half until the fall =( I was supposed to do one in May but then got really sick a few days before hand.

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  11. Impressive and congrats!! Sounds like something similar I'm going to have to pull off. I have a wedding to attend in August as a bridesmaid and I have a 10K the next morning! I don't know how that's gonna work! oyyyye! But I'll manage even if it won't be my best!

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  12. Congratulations on a great half marathon run! I love the half distance! Such fun!

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  13. Wow great race with such little sleep! I can't wait until I can start running again!

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