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Twelve In Twenty-Twelve || Planet Adventure Winter Half Marathon Race Recap Part 2

February 3, 2012

Posted by jillconyers under 2012 Goals, 2012 Race Recaps, Blog Hop, Fitness Friday Blog Hop, Goals, Half Marathon, Health and Fitness, iFitness, Running, Trail Running, Twelve in Twenty-Twelve

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Thoughts:

Miles 1-3: I couldn’t help but notice how refreshing the clean fresh air was and the beautiful scenery.
At about mile 4: I realized this wasn’t going to be about the pace. It was going to be endurance and the finish. Quitting wasn’t an option.
Mile 6: A few thoughts of OMG this sucks. What was I thinking?
About mile 8: ~~Man~~ Woman vs. Wild. Feeling strong and confident!
Up to this point I was slow with the mud and jumping over fallen trees but on the more level stretches I maintained about a 9:30 pace. Chad is awesome with maneuvering the uneven paths, water, logs and mud.
Part of the course was running around a lake. Think about 500 runners at night with headlamps circling the lake. It was so cool!
Mile 10: My thoughts were no running Dirt Days this year. No more night races. To I’m not ever running a trail race again!
Mile 11-13: Back to feeling strong and thinking about what I had accomplished so far.
Ice. Mud. Hills. Dark. Fallen trees. My goal. Uninjured and finish. SUCCESS!
Yes. I will run another trail race at night

Photos:

Off to a good start with clear blue skies all day and weather reports of less wind in the evening.

Almost there and oddly enough I didn’t have the typical pre-race butterflies in my stomach. At this point there was a calm about the whole thing.

When I saw the park entrance I started thinking about being out there in the dark. Really?

Getting ready in the car was another off-routine factor of this adventure. Getting dressed. Garmin. Shoes. Bibs. Eating. I surprised myself (and probably Chad too) by how flexible I could actually be with not having my race routine. Still an odd calm about it all.

Dinner was almond butter and honey on a sandwich thin.

Most important!

The finish. I kept this picture in my mind during the entire race.

Off and on throughout the race my iFitness belt with bib holders was a topic for conversation. It was the bib holder that got the attention and people wanted to know where to buy it.

The medal. Going with the whole green focused Planet Adventure theme the medal was this. I thought it was funny. Chad loved it! The differences between trail runners and street runners. This medal says it all. There really is a noticeable personality difference.

Not only was this my first of at least 12 half marathons it was also the first of at least 12 dates for Chad and I <3 With kids it doesn’t always work out that we can run races together (and the fact that he prefers trails and I prefer roads) but when it does we have the best time. And of course the obligatory wearing of the race shirt the next day.