Going into the Haunted Half this year I was excited and
nervous. This is the first half Kristen
and I ran. It was the beginning
of our running friendship too. My goal
was a PR, I wanted a big PR, preferably around 2 hours… but deep down I knew I didn't train for a 14 minute PR. Any
improvement would be a joyful occasion!
My training plan was nonexistent to say the least. My goal all year has been to increase my
mileage, speed work outs, and basically just go out and get the miles on my
feet. That being said – since last year’s
Haunted Half I have completed four half marathons! (Santa Hustle, Scenic City, Varmint, and
Bluegrass)
The week leading up I almost psyched myself out getting so
worked up. Hurricane Sandy didn't help
either. But through Doug and Kristen I
calmed down. If it was meant to be it
would be.
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| My running buddy AKA Captain Hook! |
Kristen and I dressed as Captain Hook and Peter Pan this
year. Costumes are always fun! It adds another level of excitement to the race.
We found out midweek that our friend Kristina would be on
bike patrol. This was great – we knew we’d
see her at least twice on the course and I’ll never turn down a friend cheering
me on! Turns out our other friend Sybil
was on bike patrol too – yay for two friends on bike patrol!
Race day came, and before I knew it we were lining up at the
start. The start was a little
discombobulated this year, but oh well. Hurricane
Sandy showed up too – she brought along some nice winds. We got started a tad late, there were no
starting corrals so it made the first half mile to a mile congested. At one point I looked at Kristen and said “we
are doing 10:30, this is unacceptable, let’s go” ha ha and I took off. The trouble with that is – it took me 10
miles to slow down!
Mile 1-4 I felt great, I ran into a co-worker at the mile 4
water station and then knew I’d see Kristina and Sybil on Industry Road around
mile 5-7. When I saw Kristina finally
she cheered me on and even snapped a few pictures! It was a great boost!
The goal had been to gu every 30 minutes or 3 miles. I stuck to this routine fairly well, until
the end and gu’d at mile 9 and 11.
Back into downtown I still felt good. Around mile 8 I saw Kristen’s family and that
was fun to hear her kids cheering me on!
Those boys are too cute!
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| The weather post race. |
Mile 7-10 have always proven to be a stumbling block for me,
and this time I tried to push through.
It was hard but by the time I got to mile 10 I was spent. If this had been a training run I would have
thrown in the towel and been done with it.
I kept telling myself to keep running, no walking. Yet I did walk some. Then I’d see my huge PR going down the drain
and knew if I kept walking I’d be so mad at myself. I even saw Kristina around mile 11, she was
so nice and encouraging, and I was so angry!
(Sorry friend!) I think the
conversation went something like this:
Kris – Go girl, you are doing great, looking good! Kristen’s doing great too! Keep it up!
Jennie – No I’m not, I’m mad, this is horrible. I hate this.
Kris – umm you are looking great! Keep it up!
Then she turned and rode the other way – ha ha!
There was a water station around mile 11, it was out of
water. Gesh people, it was even the Army
guys! They said “we are all out” and I replied
with “you should have planned better!” (Like I said, I was angry!)
Then around mile 12.8 I saw a water station! At that point I was delirious. Another lady runner and I had been pulling
each other along and I stated “let’s get some water, walk a second, and finish
strong!” and she said “no, we are almost finished, keep running!” so I agreed
but told her if I didn't make it she was responsible! The lady runner was behind me and I have no
idea who she was! But thank you to her
for helping me PR!
THEN THERE WAS A HILL!
This is claimed to be the flattest, fastest (wicked fast) course in East
Tennessee – what the heck guys! We
finished up hill! So we are chugging
along, reminding myself this is what all that speed work was for, when some
cheerleader yelled “go, run, the finish is just around that turn!” I got so excited to only find out we had
ANOTHER TURN after it!
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| Happy Peter Pan! |
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| Look at those splits! And to see that I walked almost 3 minutes... : ( |
My very first half marathon at the Haunted Half was 2:13:59 –
this year I improved on that time and finished with an outstanding 2:08:22!!!
At first I was upset with myself, but now, I’m
ecstatic! I cannot wait until next year,
maybe third time’s a charm and I’ll break that 2 hour mark then!
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| My wonderful brother and his great fleece coat! |
Afterwards I hung out with my family, brother, mother and
little Landon. Landon was all about the
bouncy slides and kids adventures. But
once I cooled down it was COLD! Thanks
to my great brother who froze and let me use his jacket! He might be a good guy after all!
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| My Celebratory Dinner Outfit - Proud of that shirt! |
Back at home, I showered and realized other than feeling
tired, I felt pretty good. No
blisters! Woot! Woot!
That’s now 6 half marathons without a blister! Holla!
Doug took me to dinner to celebrate my PR at the Troutdale – always a
great meal! I even splurged with a
couple blackberry martinis! Yum!
Another form of celebration was GNO on Monday! We had dinner and drinks at Machiavelli’s! It was the classic group of Kristen,
Kristina, Brandie, and me! We laughed,
laughed, ate some great food, drank some great drinks, and laughed some
more! GNO is never a quick event!
Video by someone
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