My friend and I decided to take on another 1/2 marathon. This time it was the You Go Girl, in Tacoma Washington. We have been super nervous about this one because we haven't been training as intensely as we have in the past. We still run lots, but not as fast. So we were a little (okay, a lot) worried. When we arrived in Tacoma after checking into our hotel the first thing on the agenda was to drive the course. We had heard it could be hilly and were anxious to see for ourselves. Bad idea. If we were scared before, we were now petrified. The course is basically 7 miles of hills. Hill after hill, after lovely hill. I am not joking. After we drove it, our goal went from a sub two hours, to "who cares anymore....let's just have fun." That night, we roamed the old downtown Tacoma. It was so much fun. I don't know why, but I loved it there. We stopped by the cutest, yummiest cupcake shop (Hello, cupcake) and it was the best cupcake I have EVER tasted in my life. We walked around the glass museum, and just enjoyed the cool air. Even with a rainy mist, it was just so relaxing and a great getaway from everyday life. We had lots of laughs as usual and are ever so grateful to the men in our lives that give us the chance to periodically get away.
The race. Our alarms went off at 7am, and we had got a long, good night's rest thank goodness. But both of us dreaded the race because we knew what was in store for us. We forged ahead though. We started at a descent pace of 8:30's to 9:00's for the first two miles, and at mile two the hills started. We did all we could to focus and just get up the hills. We took it at a descent pace of around 9:30's to 10:00's. Then we would have a few downhills where we could pick up speed to make up for the lack thereof on the hills. Tammy's IT band had major issues, but she just kept going, and never gave up. The last 1/4 mile we planned to pick up major speed but surprise!! another hill (steep) right before our eye's. We wanted to kill someone, but we did it. What choice did we have?! We both sped up and crossed the finish hand in hand.
We had no idea what to expect when we went into it, but were happy to finish at 1:58:05. Not a PR, but that is okay. This course made my last one look like a piece of cake. It for me, was shockingly one of my favorite races. It opened my eyes to the fact that the body can do really hard things even if we think it can't. But I will not do it again despite the fact that we did okay. Too many hills for this little wimpy girl. I will try to stick to a little flatter for the future. But will always be grateful for the experience of something new. Running the finish with my best friend was my favorite part of the whole thing. Getting through it without having to be alone, made up for the difficulty of the race. We helped each other keep going.
After the race we went straight to the hotel (limped that is) and got into the hot tub in our running clothes. Changing into swimsuits would have taken too much energy. And our last stop before heading home to our husband's and children, was the cupcake shop again for one last delicious cupcake...and one for each of our family members too. Just a little thanks to them for letting us do fun, new things.
