Some Motivation Required

Well, it’s official, I’m a half marathoner now.  I have the finisher medal and sore calves to prove it.

Today I ran the St. Jude’s Heroes Half Marathon, around Seattle’s Lake Union.  I ran it with my certified badass mom, and we came in at just a hair under 2 hours 22 minutes.  Started out at a 10:30 pace, kept it just above 11 for the middle miles and then felt a huge surge for the last mile and a half, getting the pace up to 9:45 and then a full on, unload everything sprint for the last quarter mile.

Crossed the finish line and once my body stopped moving, I immediately felt like I was going to hurl.  Managed to keep it together, though, so I count that as doing it right.

Probably the highlight, aside from finishing, was at about 7.75 miles, crossing the University Bridge and being told by the lady monitoring the bridge for runners that I had a cute butt and being slapped on the ass as I passed by.  A special blend of “what the hell?” and motivation.

No official race photos have been posted yet, but here’s a shot off my iPhone of mom and myself just past the finish line:

Now I’m trying to find a half marathon in between now and Seattle Rock and Roll so that I can qualify to get into Half Fanatics.