Well, we survived. Amber and I are still sore, but on the mend. What a great half marathon it was. Amber and I both ran the Hammond Half Marathon on Saturday morning, August the 14th. We awoke to a misty morning. The fog hung low and there was absolutely no wind. It was the perfect morning for a half marathon.....
It was Amber's first half and my 3rd. Both of us were unsure of how it was going to all turn out. Amber had never done one before and has been nagged by sore knees on most of her long runs. Although I've done two other half marathons, I've never done one on such low mileage weeks. My highest mileage week was 2 weeks ago when I logged 38 miles total. Before my last half I had a high week of just over 50 miles. Amber had a borrowed GPS watch, her iPod ,and tons of spirit. I had my Brooks jersey, 2 pairs of socks on, and great competition in a young local that showed up to run his first half marathon.
Amber wanted to run it under 2 hours, but also didn't want to go out too fast so she paced herself well throughout. I wanted to get a PR, but wasn't sure if I had it in me. Amber ended up running a 1:59.23 and I ended up running a 1:16.51. We both achieved the goals we had set out to do. She broke 2 hours(without injury) and I got a sweet PR. Although I ended up getting 2nd place(by 30 seconds) I feel like I really accomplished something. Once the soreness wears off maybe I'll see if Amber would ever do another one. I think she's got it in her to be a great long distance runner. I guess only time will tell.
Go wild and enjoy running!!
