This past Saturday, March 21, I finished my very first competitive half marathon! It was the Volition America Half Marathon & 5K Series that is touring the United States. They kicked off their inaugural race in our hometown of Boise—what an honor for us!
Going into the race, my goal had been to run a 1:35 (I've run several half marathons before, but this was my first "competitive" half). I ended up having a better race than expected and set a new personal record for myself with a 1:33:09! I was so excited. My fastest half prior to that was a 1:48 in 2009, so I was stoked to test my legs and see what they could do! My splits averaged 7:08/mile, though the breakdown was much more varied. My fastest mile was a 6:28 (mile 1) and my slowest was a 7:37 (mile 10). But I finished strong with a 6:49 on mile 13.
I ended up finishing 12th overall, 4th overall female, 1st overall military member, and 1st in my age group (25-29). I was very happy with those placings and my time.
The race was harder than I expected—I'm used to running those splits for 10k training runs but hadn't truly trained for more than an hour at a time for this race, so after mile 8, it was pretty painful. I think with a dedicated training plan I could significantly improve this time! We'll see what the future holds for half marathon races.
See more photos of the race below!
Starting out strong!
Feeling great and waving to the volunteers around mile 6.
Running along the greenbelt at mile 6—check out my neon 124th Fighter Wing Squadron PT Shirt!
Having a "Why am I doing this moment?" from miles 8-10. The man behind me is a colleague out at the Air National Guard. It was awesome seeing so many Air Guard members at this event!
I was so excited to finish with a new PR of 1:33:09!
Totally experiencing a runner's high!
I'm a lucky wife! His encouragement was what kept me feeling strong and motivated!
I was so grateful that Daniel came out to support me during this race. He drove the course and was on the sidelines about every 3-4 miles. The only thing I looked forward to more than each new mile marker was his smiling, loving face! I mean, when you have a handsome man cheering you on and saying, "Finish strong, sweetie! You're doing so well!" how do you NOT go all out and finish strong? His support made all the difference!
I have several more races planned for this year at varying distances. Can't wait to see what else 2015 holds and where my feet will run me to next!
35 comments:
HOLY MOLY are are fast!!!! :)
Awesome! Congrats!
Congratulations!!! Thank you for coming out!!!
that's awesome!! Congrats!
You are so awesome!
I'm just loving the hair Aunie! Super cute!
Go Aunie!!! I'm SO proud of you! Let Sean and I know what other races you're signed up for this year - we want to run at least one half this year if possible! Miss you guys! XO
GREAT job chickadee!!! So impressive!!!
Awesome time!!! That is quite the improvement! WTG!
Congrats, Aunie! And I agree! The support of a really good partner makes all the difference in life. :)
That's awesome! Way to go!
Oh yes, that inevitable mid bit of the race where you think "what fresh hell have I landed myself in this time? why did I start this again?!". Or, as we thought in high school cross country, we got into a cadence of mid race feeling like oh crap, we'd think "why the hell did I join cross country? why the hell did I join cross country?" and funnily enough, your feet would fall into rhythm, you'd hit a good pace and just.keep.going. ;)
You are awesome! Congratulations on a great PR! And as much as I'm sorry you experienced it, it's kind of reassuring for us slower runners that even you super fast runners also think, "Why, oh, WHY did I think this was a good idea??" during the race from time to time!
THANK YOU, AMANDA! You're making me blush :)
Thanks so much!!!
Thanks again for bringing your amazing event to Boise! My only regret? I didn't get "coined" by the Major or thank him for what he does!! Next time--I'll be there to shake-take-salute! :)
Thanks so much, Pamela!
You are! Your support, Vicki, as always, is so incredibly appreciated!!
Thanks, Shannon! It's so simple. It takes all of 3-minutes to do... if that :)
Yesss! Thanks Syd!! My mom and I are thinking the Famous Idaho Potato on May 30, and then there's FitOne on Sept 26!
Thanks so much, Christine. You're too kind :)
Thanks so much, Carolyn! I appreciate it!
Don't you know it :) Is it so amazing seeing your man love on your new baby? I bet it's just heart-melting.
Thanks so much, Amy. You're awesome!
YES! I love that idea -- turning your pain into a mantra. "What. the. heck... what. the. heck" each step... YES! At Basic Training, I repeated "I won't slow down!" with each footstep... It made me go SO FAST in the end! :)
KC, you're so sweet. And you're not slow--you pace yourself! :) But yes--I have that thought more often than I'd ever like to admit. ESPECIALLY on race day!
Anneliese, I love your boots and dress, especially like the 2nd pic from the last.
Erin is so very very smoking hot, with youth full and pretty face, great fit body, nice set of tits, smooth sexy legs and a mouthwatering delicious tight ass. Check out her pics posted, really hot! My favorite of Erin's pics is a selfie only wearing shorts and bra, looking so damn hot I get throbbing hard. I am really enjoying her sexy selfie to stroke my cock and cum to.
I'm in personnel. You?
Im new to the fire protection, tomorrow morning is actually my first day with the student flight
Oh wonderful! How was it?
Mind if I ask how you trained on your running? I am not a runner really, but I have been able to do a mile and a half on the treadmill in 12:43. I want to hit all the men's warhawk standards. My official ship date is in August, but I'm gonna go quick ship asap. I'm going active duty.
Hi Dana! Thanks for emailing!! I've always been into running (since I was in middle school) so BMT running was fun for me. Right before enlisting, I completed my first full marathon so I did a lot of distance training. Before BMT, I would PT test on the road each Saturday (it's much different than on the treadmill) and do two 4-5 mile runs during the week. At BMT you run about 2-days per week and do about 10-minutes slow jog, 15-minutes on your own, and 5-minutes of interval sprints. So I'd recommend trying something like that to help get you prepped! :) Alternatively, you could download a 5K training program, like from halhigdon.com. I follow his plans for my road races and think a 5K plan would prep you just fine for BMT.
Awesome!! Thank you so much! You did great at BMT! Congratulations!
Thank you very much, Dana. Best of luck to you!
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