Tacoma Narrows Half Marathon 2014

When the Tacoma City Marathon Association announced they were doing a half marathon series, I wasn't very interested. My plan was to have the Tacoma City Marathon that I ran in May be my last race of the year. Thing is, I am a runner at heart and I can not stay away from racing. Plus, I was already signed up for the first race in the series, the St. Paddy's Day Half Marathon. So I though, why not go for it. Thank goodness I have a husband that understands. The way the series works is you must finish four of the six half marathons that the TCMA has to offer in order to receive an extra race medal. This meant I had three more races to add to my calender. 

Race day started like any race would in the Western Washington, it rained at the start line. It was welcomed though. Because of the weather, and the fact we showed up so close to the start time, my husband and son couldn't wait at start line with me. It was ok because I spent all that time in the porta potty line.

 Running past the car at the beginning of the race.

 Crossing the finish line.

 Me and my bling.

My official time. I did better than I though.

This race was one of the best races I have ever ran. The course was not too difficult and it was well supported. My goal was to finish under 2:10:00. I thought I was doing well on that goal until mile nine. There is a point on the course where runners run around the baseball field at Cheney Stadium. As you run in you can see yourself running on the big screen. It was really fun, until I saw the 2:10 pacer running right behind me. At that point I realized that my goal was most likely not going to happen. By mile eleven I lost sight of the pacer and began to lose hope of getting a PR. At that point I was running to finish. I think that somehow it put me in a zone because when I crossed the finish line I didn't look at the clock. I was too busy running. It wasn't until I went to look up my stats I realized I did PR by two minutes. I finished the race at 2:12:53.

My next race is the You Go Girl Half Marathon on September 14, 2014. My goal is to finish before 2:06:00.