Mo' Cowbell 2012

Well, I loved this race. I wasn't sure what to expect because Mo' Cowbell 2011 was my first half-marathon and it really kicked my butt. ...I also trained really hard (for a beginner) for that race. I live in Soulard and it's rather hilly, so I'm always running uphill, downhill. The Mo' Cowbell course is relatively flat. I find flats kind of boring. 

All bundled up, started out with 38° temps.

I didn't line up in any corral, I started in the back because it wasn't crowded. I found myself passing a lot of people, but it wasn't an issue. There was tons of space to pass. My first mile pace was 10:39. It was nice and slow and I liked that. I knew I'd have to pick it up if I wanted to PR. I wasn't pushing myself at all.  I was breathing comfortably, I wasn't too hot or too cold. There was a slight breeze, but it felt nice.

At mile 6. That girl next to me has got to be freezing!!!

At mile 7. Shedding my jacket.

The course finally gets challenging around 9.5 miles where there is this looooong uphill that lasts a little over a mile. This thing kicked my ass last year, I think I walked the majority of it. This year though, I ran the entire hill. It wasn't really that hard. I mean, I was plenty tired for already running over 1 hour and 40-ish minutes. There is a nice downhill segment after the bitch hill and then back to flats. I think the absolute worst part of the race is the steep downhill before mile 12. OUCH! The sucker killed my knees. I wanted to walk it, but I wanted to stay strong. After sprinting down the hill, I had to walk it. I walked maybe a tenth of a mile and then told myself to get going. But... then we hit the last water break and I extended my walk there too. I decided to suck it up and run to the finish, whew I was in a lot of pain!!!

Happy with a new PR!

I'm really proud of myself, I didn't train as hard as I should have. I only did three long training runs: a 7- and 9-miler back in August (after Sea Wheeze Half Marathon) and only one 10-miler in mid-September (all other runs were 5 miles or less). So I'm happy with my finish time: 02:12:55... a new PR!!! By like 7 minutes!!! My next race is in two weeks. My goal is to finish under 2 hours 10 minutes. Eeekkk! I'm going to have to push my comfort level.

I'm happy I was able to pick up my pace each 5k :o).