Mo' Cowbell 2013

Well, I was supposed to do the full marathon. I signed up for the full back in April when I was more determined to do all of the training. I even joined a training team, ha! Ya.... the furthest I got in my training was 14 miles... I think? I did very little training during the month of September. I spent most of my time doing yoga and biking.

So I "downgraded" to the 1/2 marathon... no regrets. 

Enough time to snap a quick photo.

I got to the start line with literally 2 minutes to spare. I've never been that late to a race. I wanted to be in the back of the 9 min/mile pace group, but could only get to the 11 pace group. Therefore, there was a lot of passing and that was kind of annoying, but it was my fault. 

I had no expectations for this race. I just wanted to feel good, so I just kept checking in on my body and my pace. For the first two miles, I kept telling myself to slow it down. Third, fourth and fifth miles, I was starting to get a bit hot, but enjoyed the chilly wind at times. New Town, miles six, seven and eight, I enjoyed the houses and kept trying to find the lady who was handing out candy last year, but she wasn't out there. I was getting super hungry and started dreaming of chocolate milk, but I tried to take that off my mind. I only had two slices of toast in the AM. Reminder - eat MORE before a race. 

It was time to conquer mile ten, the dang hill. I was starting to feel the pain so I walked some. The only good thing about this hill is that you only have three miles left. Anyone can do three miles :). But...my legs were tired and running became pretty difficult.

The marathon split was around mile 12. I smiled and felt relieved that I wasn't doing the full. Whew.

Almost to the finish line!!

There was no PR today, but I'm super happy with my time. I did a little under a minute faster than last year's Cowbell, so that's fine.

Finished: 02:12:02

I'm running the Halloween Half Marathon in a week, and I'm really looking forward to the new course! Dreaming of a 2 hour finish, but so not going to happen.

No negative splits for me!

Favorite song from race: Hey Brother - Avicii.

2012 Mo' Cowbell post
2011 Mo' Cowbell post