Another One Down!

I am now home from my awesome adult weekend away in Minneapolis... My first trip away without kids and/or husband since I even had kids!!!! I loved every minute of it and must give props to my hubs for making it an awesome guilt-free experience! OK- kudos given, I can move on...
I had a blast with my friend Kim. We certainly got to know each other better! Just as great, I got a chance to meet RunninMama Bethany Saros! She is awesome! Waking, eating, shopping and just hanging out on my own schedule was a dream, lol!
Team Ortho put on a great event. I was really happy to see that the expo, start and finish line were ALL there right at the hotel. I love not having to drive/get lost/parking madness that can ensue with so many of these events ina large city. Great job on their part.
I was nervous about this course... I ran one very similar last summer that was seriously hilly! That being said- I was still hoping to make a PR and possibly even a sub 2 hour...
Start time was early but great. Excitement bubbling! The first 5 or so miles were great. Over and under bridges... I loved being able to see the 1000's ahead of me as well as the 1000's behind me. The last 7 or so were the same route as last year... It all came flooding back, lol! Not gonna lie- there were times I was questioning my reasoning for running this race. There were 2 good downhill portions where Kim and I took advantage and hit a 7mm pace. Unfortunately they were counterbalanced with more than 2 uphills where we were barely eeking out a 10 mm pace. Gotta say though- the mentality of this half, now having run a full, was totally different. Like when I hit mile 8, my first thought was, "oh man! Already? I'm almost done!" All in all, we lost the 2 hour pacer, but we were holding pretty good.
Then comes mile 11. I started coming apart here. By mile 11.5 I sent Kim on. It was obvious she had more in her than I did. Mile 12 came and so did the acknowledgement that I needed to get it going. Unfortunately, this is where a monster hill came too:( I tell ya, knowing you NEED to go and telling yourself, "get there! get there! get there!" and trudging up this 15% incline are two VERY conflicting factors! It seemed like everyone around me was throwing in the towel and walking this stretch! By now my Garmin says 13.1 and my head is saying done. Whose idea of a cruel joke is to put a finish line at the top of a hill? Ooooooohh mile 13..... Dammit where is that freaking .1?????
Finally I crest the HILL and see the finish line! Oh yeah baby! I may have missed my 1:59:59, I may have missed my PR even, but i was bringing this baby home. I charged, crowd was hooting and hollering and the Garmin pacer started with a 5!! Hoo, hoo, hooo,hoo- sprinting it in at a 5mm and smiling for the camera :) I even managed to close in on Kim by a mere 4 seconds...
As I crossed the finish, I accepted my medal, struggled to take in some air and willed myself not to puke! I was done! And now cant wait to do it again!
2:09:05 Not my best, but i feel it was my best that day...