Hello Everyone! I am very pleased to let you all see my final time for my second Half Marathon in Pittsburgh, PA! (Forgive me, I am a little excited!)
Here is the full list of results! Congrats to everyone.
The Runners, Volunteers, and Spectators were all AMAZING!
I never expected to get 2nd in my age group and to shave 9 minutes off my time from last year! Excited, Proud, feeling like I can do anything-- it's hard to top that but I can't wait until next year(is it bad to already be anticipating my next Half?).. haha :)
This year's Marathon was better than ever! (well, at least comparing to last year!) I can't tell you how amazing it is to run through the city of Pittsburgh! The feeling is unlike anything else. I truely was smiling from ear to ear for the majority of the race. The few times I may not have been smililg was probably at mile 5 when I got a cramp in my side for a brief moment (thank goodness for a quick sip at a water station!-- thanks Volunteers!) or when another female runner passed me up right when I went by my family. Haha but definitly all SMILES for the end of the race.
These photos below are from a photographer who took some awesome pictures of just about everyone in the race! Nick Hodnick Photography: Check them out! http://www.hodnick.net/Sports/2011-Pittsburgh-Marathon/17105751_DmwPsx#1296199185_s4kvKSx
People have been telling me that I seem so calm in my running photos. Well, all I can say is that I am focusing on just that--- STAYING CALM. Letting myself just breathe naturally and let my body do the work I KNOW it can do. That is why you put in the training, so you can feel more at ease while you are runnning the race. But my body definitly wasn't working alone! My MIND was on point and I truely believe that it took over somewhere around mile 7 to keep me going.
It was at the moment when I saw my 10k time on the time clock--- under 42 minutes. That's when I realized I have been running under a 7 minute mile pace until that point. I thought "there is no way I can finish at this pace-- I have never done a training run this long at a sub 7 minute mile pace." Well, that thought was cut short when a very tall man ran up behind me and said "are you going to keep this pace? If you are, I want to stay with you-- I am at a 6:55 pace right now." When I heard him say outloud the sub 7 min pace, I got SO INCREDIBLY MOTIVATED! I knew that I would finish the race going at that speed. So we certainly did stay together and pushed eachother from mile 8 until the end. Having another runner want to stick with me gave me motivation to push him as well as myself. I was totally relaxed and able to carry on brief conversation during mile 8 to 11. After those miles, we picked up our pace and the talking was cut down to "we got this! " and "you can do it!"
We finished the race a step apart from each other. Check out these pictures of me and my tall counterpart. Our strides were even in- sync for most of the race! Pretty crazy considering the length of his legs compared to mine!
I submitted this series of pictures to The Pittsburgh Marathon Photo Contest. http://www.pittsburghmarathon.com/Left_Nav/Race_Weekend_Activities/Photo_Contest.htm
I called it "opposite in size, alike in strides."
Hi Bethany,
ReplyDeleteThanks for the plug to my website, I'm glad you enjoyed the photos and found yourself in all of them :)
Thanks,
Nick
www.hodnick.net