Hospital Hill Half Marathon-I Survived!!!

...I survived year #2 at HHR thanks to my She-Ra team of Sherrie and Shelley! We had planned to run with the 2:40 pace group; however, because the 5k and 10k started at the same time, the starting area was a MESS! The 5k and 10k people were mixed in with the half pace groups so we couldn't even get TO the 2:40 group to start with them. Once we crossed the starting line though, things spread out and we ran the majority of the race between the 2:35 and 2:40 pace groups.

This is the only picture Matt got of us running, this is around mile 2. It was so hot that he was giving me water/Gatorade and a wet rag every time we saw them which was WAY more important than pictures.

It was hot. The bands they had out were really good! It was hilly. I saw my DM friend Haley around mile 6-7 and she was looking strong. It was hot. After I saw Haley, I saw a girl getting an IV and being taken off in an ambulance. It was hilly. After this, I recognized a girl who ran in my pace group last year and kicked my butt. I sooo wanted to beat her but I lost her after a couple miles...maybe next year? It was hot. I drank at every water station and couldn't have been more thankful when I saw our hubs in between each water station with more liquids and wet towels-they were a godsend. It was hilly. Probably stupid but we counted all the hills-14!!! So basically one per mile (including the .1). It was hot. Around mile 10, they handed out ice. It was amazing. It was hilly. I saw the 2:40 pace group towards the end and refused to let them pass us. It was hot. I turned it on the last .2 of a mile, made it the first tenth then the sudden urge to pee which made me slow down. It was hot. I finished and crushed my time from last year by 9 minutes! Did I mention it was hot and hilly?

Year #2 and yep, I conquered the hill again!

My wonderful waterboy!!! Although if he told me one more time that he saw us walking, he might have been WEARING the water...but I still love him and am so so grateful for this handsome hunk! Love this picture of us!

Me with the awesome race director Beth who has informed me that I'm a Hospital Hill Ambassador for life AND...I'm going to be an ambassador for Rock-n-Roll St. Louis!!!

I was SO thankful to have Shelley and Sherrie by my side pushing me and helping me the entire way. I'm super excited about my time but at the same time, the Indy Half I did in 2:37 so now I wonder if I could have done it faster since it was way flatter and not nearly as hot but I also had a lot of things working against me in that race i.e. no sleep and lots of stress. Since that half (May 7), I have lost 8 pounds and I could REALLY tell because this is the first race that my hips did not kill me. My wall is usually at mile 10 and while I did a lot of walking during the last 3 miles, I didn't necessarily feel bad physically as much as I was just freakin' tired and I'm pretty sure I told Sherrie and Shelley I was tired quite a few times! Thank you ladies for standing by my side and getting me to the finish line in record time.

At the end of the race, they were getting rid of all the leftover food. Yep, Cece and I took an entire box of 'nanas home!

After I ate the most delicious frozen fruit bar ever, it could have been a block of ice in that heat and it would have tasted amazing, I found all "my people" and chatted and said goodbye. Cece and I headed back out on the course and walked Jen in to finish her first half-so freakin' proud of her!!! It was a hot, hot day but it was awesome because HHR does an awesome job of putting on a fantastic race and I had lots of friends around to share the day with.

So...whose in for next year???