Horsetooth Half Marathon

Last Sunday I ran my second half marathon in a YEAR!  My first half marathon was last August, in the mountains.  It was 13.1 miles of downhill AWESOMENESS (my choice...).  THIS half marathon began with 4 miles of death running uphill (SARA'S choice).  It's a good thing Sara is a lot faster than I am, because I was cursing her name for over 2 hours.  By the time I saw the finish line I was delirious with happiness and remembered we were friends again (BARELY).

All kidding aside it was a really REALLY beautiful race.  The 4 miles of mountain climbing meant great views.  We had over a foot of snow the week leading up to the race but warmer weather a few days before so the roads were dry but the scenery was snow covered.  It was high 40's to mid 50's, which was perfect running weather, and sunny, and a great day overall.

Here's a breakdown, in pictures, of the race.
 

We got to Fort Collins around 7:00 for an 8:30 start.  This is the back of the race shirt, which shows the elevation climb - it's no joke.  It's over 1,000 athletes and 999 of them are walking the first 4 miles - because walking is faster than running!



Here is the "before" picture.  Notice the rows of port-a-potties, which is a clear indicator that runners are in the midst.  I'm never early for a race, and am almost always cutting it too close waiting in long lines before the starting shot is fired but because Sara and I were early I was one of the first to use the port-a-potty, and it was not an aweful experience!  There was toilet paper AND hand sanitizer.  Lesson learned - being there over an hour early was WELL worth it.  


Here we are with a more scenic background.  Sara and I found our shirts for FIVE DOLLARS at the Nike Outlet.  Don't we look fast and ready for hours of running? 
Here we are at the starting line.  This half marathon was just over a week after the Boston Marathon bombing and it was really surreal to be in a crowd of runners with the events of the past on our minds.  There were 26.2 seconds of silence to start the race and many runners had something on their shirt/arm/leg to commemorate those who ran/were injured the week before.

  

Here we go!  This is after climbing the first mountain and turning the corner you see this beauty staring you smack in the face.  At the top of that mountain is mile 4.






It's appropriately called "Monster Mountain" and at the top they have a temporary sign where you can commemorate your success, before remembering you still have NINE MORE MILES TO RUN!
  

 

I had the BEST cheering section waiting for me at Mile 8.  It's a running joke in our family that the last thing we want to hear when we are running a long race are the words "YOU'RE ALMOST THERE!"  Fans like to cheer this when you are MILES away from the finish, and are no where NEAR almost there.  Mom made this sign and got lots of laughs, seeing as we still had 5 more miles to run at this point.


I was more anxious for Scott, Audrey, and my mom than I was for myself with the events in Boston.  Scott was great and texted me every half our or so to let me know they were okay.  It was hard to know where they were on the course so he also texted they were waiting for me at mile 10.  I was in my own little world when I saw this precious little girl running towards me at mile 8.  It was the nicest surprise and made my whole life seeing my little girl so happy in such a spontaneous moment.  It was almost better not knowing they were there because it was such a perfect pick-me-up.




Here I go, off running again....



Scott, mom and Audrey moved to the finish line where I got to carry Audrey across.  I thought my legs were going to give out from under me but she was so excited to go "running" with mommy how could I refuse? 




I think Sara and I were really relieved to be finished and I know I was starving, and planning on eating an entire pizza.

I really have loved training and running these half marathons.  I've gotten to run with my mom and a best friend, and have made a life-long friendship along the way.  It was kind of emotional, to finish this race because I felt like it was no longer something I had proven to myself I could do once, but is now something I can do because I'm a runner.

I couldn't have done it without Scott.  He's supported me 100% of the way, watching Audrey every weekend for hours so I could get training runs in, waiting in the crowd, and rubbing my hurting legs in the evenings.  As Audrey would say..."He's my best!"

Audrey Sayings...

We've been spending a LOT of time with a two-year-old lately.  I looked down today and saw a child walking with me to the car, instead of a toddler.  She doesn't toddle any more - it's all kid, all the way!  Today she wore a pink dress and kept telling people she was a "princess".  She loves to be fancy, and now that the weather is finally nice she can dress the way she likes!

Audrey goes through phases where we hear the same phrase OVER and OVER and OVER again and three days later it's gone.

It started with the work "okay" - as in:

"Be nice to my mommy, OKAY?"  "I'm drinking milk, OKAY?"  "This is my pink coat, OKAY?"

Then, we heard OOUH (insert loud whining sound here) before every sentence as in:

"OOUH, I wanted milk".  "OOUH, That's my book."  "OOUH, I play with Tober."

And tonight, she knocked me out of the rocking chair.  We were going through our nightly routine and instead of asking for Hush, Little Baby (like usual) it was "Mom, Sing Shush Little Bay-Buh"

Never a dull moment!