1/2 of a Marathon Race Recap!!

So... both me and 'Mr. Sprinkles and Glitter' were signed up to run the full marathon at the P.F. Chang's marathon this weekend, but we both ended up only doing the half marathon. We didn't realize we were also signed up for the Phoenix Marathon which is only 6 weeks away. So we figured we run the half this weekend and then run the full at the Phoenix Marathon- instead of trying to kill ourselves doing both. It ended up being an amazing weekend ending with 2 new PR's.

We went to the expo my mom and had so much fun like last year. My mom and I got our 'passports' from the Brook's RUN HAPPY section and scored these awesome visors.

We were admiring our new visors, waiting in like to ride the Buckin' Shoe, when I got a call from 'Mr. Sprinkles and Glitter' saying that Jackson Carter from The Biggest Loser was at a booth in the expo!! We quickly left the sneaker line and headed over to meet him.

Once we got over there, I was shocked that there wasn't a long line, there was only 1 person ahead of us. SO cool to meet him and he wished me good luck on the run.

We left the expo and headed home to relax for the rest of the day. We made our usual pre-race meals (steak and sweet potatoes for him, pasta with chicken and broccoli for me) and watched Monsters University. SUCH a cute movie!

We woke up pretty early on race day and got ready. My mom picked us up and drove us down to the start line- BEST mom ever! We got there right before it started so 'Mr. Sprinkles and Glitter' left to get in an early corral and I waited for a port-a-potty. Surprising, the lines were not long at all and then I headed to get into a corral.

I there were 22 corrals? SO many runners!!! I loved it!!

I ended up jumping into corral 5. (Since we were signed up for the full marathon, we didn't have corral numbers for the half). It worked out great since a majority of the people in the corral were runners!

It felt like right when I jumped in the coral it was time to go and I took off tried to find enough room to run. While trying to weave in-and-out of everyone I found the 2 hour pace time! I was really, really hoping to break 2 hours so I figured I would stay with them and then (hopefully) take off towards the end to finish a little before 2 hours.

Our 2 hour pace group was FLYING! And I'm totally not just saying that either- someone else in the group looked down at their watch a couple miles in and said we were going so fast we would be walking the last mile to finish at 2 hours! Every time I looked down at my watch our pace was under 9 minute miles. I felt fine but was worried I wouldn't be able to hold that fast of a pace for the whole race.

I stayed with them until about mile 8 and then lost them at 1 of the aid stations and when I finally saw them again they were about 100 yard in front of me. I tried to catch up but never did. I think they changed the course this year (I haven't run the half marathon in 2 years so maybe not?) but the hills were brutal!

It was nice before the biggest hill there was a really cool drum group playing that definitely pumped you up and got you ready to go into battle climb the hill. Then we turned around just on the other side of the hill (ya we got to run up some of it again!) we got to hear the drums on the way back down.

I tried to push myself towards the end- especially when I realized that I hit mile 10 and had 26 minutes to hit my goal. I knew it would be hard but I wanted to try. (One of my New Year Resolutions is to get comfortable with being uncomfortable and get outside of my comfort zone.)

I reached the 2 hour mark and was only at 12.67 miles. I was pretty bummed but finished in 2:03:21. So a new PR for me by a measly 35 seconds- but a new PR nonetheless. I am SO determined to push myself out of my comfort zone and break 2 hours this year!! It will happen!!

'Mr. Sprinkles and Glitter' is amazeballs and PR'd by 5 minutes with a time of 1:43!! He hasn't even been running that much and was able to do that! Crazy!

From Instagram: TEAMSPRINKLESANDGLITTER

Once I finished, I found 'Mr. Sprinkles and Glitter' and then we met up with my mom for a ride home. Everything was really well organized and we got in and out fairly quick (had a little traffic in the morning, but nothing more than what you would normally expect).

We had lunch and watch football and kept with the tradition of getting froyo! So good- it has definitely been WAYYY too long.

Did anyone else race this weekend? 

Do you have to work for Martin Luther King day?
This is the first year I've ever got it off! Woohoo!