It may seem absurd to spend 3 months running hundreds of miles and then putting yourself through nearly an hour and 45 minutes of extreme heat and physical exertion while running up and down hills just to say you did something 35 seconds faster than the last time you did something this crazy…
…but right now, those 35 seconds feel pretty darn sweet.
The official results are finally in from the Rockford Half Marathon yesterday. I didn’t stop my watch when I crossed the finish line, so I needed the official time to know how I really did. I knew I PR’d since the clock read 1:45:05 when I crossed, but I didn’t know by how much. And I think it took them nearly a full day to post the results because so many racers from the full marathon took the cutoff at 12.5 miles and just finished the half marathon instead of going on (heck, in 90-degree heat, I would have done the same thing!).
Old PR (set at the same Rockford Marathon last year in 40 degree weather): 1:45:18
New PR: 1:44:43 (an improvement of 35 seconds)
Average pace: 8:00 min/miles
Total Place: 50th out of 749!!
Division Place: 8th out of 59!!
2012 Rockford Half Marathon Finisher’s Medal
More pics and race recap to come…
CONGRATULATIONS! That is very awesome, especially in 90 degree heat!
Thanks, Amy! Even a week later, it’s hard to believe I actually ran in that heat!
You rocked the river;)
That’s funny, honey. All I wanted to do was jump in the river to cool off instead of just running next to it!
Wow! Amazing job!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! CONGRATULATIONS!!
Wow, what a great finish time, especially in those temps! HUGE CONGRATS! Can’t wait to read the writeup.
Thanks, Angela. I’m a little slow this time with the write up. Hope to get my act together over the long weekend.
I’m starting to look forward to my next race already…but not a summer one. Maybe a North Pole one!
Congrats! 45 seconds is huge when it was almost 45 degrees hotter than last year! I hate that feeling when you realized you forgot to stop your watch. At least you knew it was PR though, even if you weren’t sure by how much! I’m looking forward to reading your race report about what you thought of it!
Nice! Enjoy those 35 seconds. When I ran my second marathon 2 minutes slower than my first (but in 80-degree heat), I relished those two minutes, even though they were not in the direction of a PR. It shows that you’ve improved, that your body is capable of handling more punishment and has become more resilient to tough conditions. Now just imagine what time you’ll run in a cool, fall half marathon!
Time to just get through summer.