[missoula half marathon 2012]

Well, it is done! 4 months of training and *boom*, it's over. I love this event because it is so.... "Missoula". The course begins with about 3 miles of beautiful scenery along the river while you watch the sunrise over the mountain. After that, it is primarily through residential areas. So many people come out and support the runners.... all 5000-ish of them. Some people yell and smile, some people hook up their sprinklers to run through (hallelujah) and some hook up radios/speakers so you don't even need an iPod. Oh, and let's not forget the most impressive man along the course, dressed in a full tux playing a grand piano in his front yard! It is really just great. When I consider running a half in another area, I am really hesitant, because this one is just so.... FUN!, and I can't imagine being encouraged and determined without so much of the excitement.

Ok, fun until your legs start giving out at the 11-mile marker, you feel like all the ligaments/tendons in your body may snap at once, and every now and then your eye sight blacks out juuuust a little bit. And the waking up at 3:45am part. But I am going to try to forget those.

Anyhow, we did pretty well this year. My main goal was to beat my first race time, which I didn't do. My second goal was to beat the first marathoner, which I did by 8-10 minutes! haha. I suppose since I have about 15 more pounds on me than I did at the race in 2010, a 00:30/mile increase isn't too bad, right?! Oh and I got to wear this super cute Lulu tank, which was probs the most important thing.

Only 2 other people on the course had it on that I saw. 3/5000 is a good ratio.

 HUGE KUDOS to my friend Holly on her first race.... a half marathon! Sheesh!

 This is the single most encouraging human being alive. Seriously. However, I did make him hold my hand across the finish line so he wouldn't beat me ;-)

Being a part of the Claxton family means we always have our very own personal photographer. My in-laws had snapshots of the day on our front porch within an hour of us going home!

So, all in all, it was a good day. Post-race I trained for my new part time job at Old Navy. Hello paychecks and discounts! I am excited to have something to do when school ends in 3 weeks.... I just hope I don't get too overwhelmed before then.

Here's to our next race! (Which I am not going to think about until my knees stop popping with every step I take!)