Maple Valley Stake 1/2 Marathon

I ran my 2nd half-marathon this past Saturday.  No training ahead-of-time except an impromptu 10-miler the Saturday before.  I went into this race with no expectations or even with a concrete plan of finishing.  And when I woke up that morning to HEAVY rains, my mind said to stay-in-bed.  But, mile by mile, alongside the best running friend ever, just concreted the fact that I WANTED TO FINISH.  I had this secret goal of running one before Crew turned one, so I knew this had to be it.  I couldn't get myself this close and then wimp out.  My dang pride wouldn't let me.  I  knew, in the end, I'd feel amazing even if I felt exhausted.  Miles 1 - 10 seemed to go by pretty smoothly, but those last few miles were an uphill battle (literally).  To say it's a tough course is probably accurate, but I've run these trails dozens of times before so I knew exactly what to expect.  All I had to do was just.keep.my.legs.moving. 

 

So, 13.1 miles and 2 hours and 8 minutes later, I finished.  Soaking wet and all.  But, I have never felt SO GOOD for doing something SO HARD.  And three days later, my legs are starting to feel normal again. :)