Des Moines Half Marathon #11

On a rather chilly, cloudy morning, I set out to complete half marathon #11.  I participated in the Des Moines Marathon event, which included a marathon, half marathon and 5k, with over 10,000 other athletes.  To top off the exciting day, my sister-in-law and nephew competed in their first 5k!

Since it is late October, I knew to expect the unexpected with the weather.  It truly could have been a 10 degree or 60 degree morning.  Instead it fell around 40 degrees with a wind chill of mid 30’s. I had debated all day Saturday on what to wear for the race.  I’m not a fan of feeling cold but knew I’d warm up within a couple miles of the race. I opted to wear shorts with my compression socks.  It worked out well; even though it was cloudy most of the race, the weather didn’t feel as bone chilling cold as I had envisioned.

It was a day to celebrate as I completed half
marathon #11 and I had family compete in their
first 5k!  We also had quite the cheering section :) 

The Des Moines Marathon has become a top event around the U.S. as it still offers a rich prize purse for elite winners.  The economy has really affected sponsorship of these types of events and whether or not a race will even offer prize money to elite racers.  Again, at over 10,000 racers, there was a lot of excitement in the air.

I was probably more nervous for this race than many of the others I competed in this year.  First, I’ve been fighting off the start of a cold and I was concerned that my energy level would be depleted.  While I didn’t feel 100%, I did feel good enough to go out and give it my all.  Also, I’m honestly getting tired.  With this half marathon under my belt, I’ve competed in four half marathons in eight weeks.  I know there are many people who compete in a marathon every single weekend for a year to really push the envelope.  I applaud them loudly.  But my experience is my own and I’m getting sore and tired.  I know I’ve written that in the past several postings and just to reiterate, it’s true :).

Still, I’m beyond excited about my achievements so far.  Part of it is that I can’t believe I’ve made it this far and doing pretty darn well at each one!  I finished this race in just over 1:45.  For someone who had to take a couple days off and rest (to fight off the cold), I felt like I could go out strong.  However, I did start to feel worn out by about mile 8 and my pace slowed slightly for the last few miles.  I had passed several people in the first half of the race and I eventually saw a number of them pass me up in the latter half.  While I don’t pace myself off anyone else, it is a little disheartening to feel like all the ground you made is lost in an instant.  At the end of the day, I still finished really strong and likely within the top 15-20% of finishers.

I completed half marathon #11 and it's been
quite the journey!

What helped me push to the end was knowing my family had come to this race to cheer me on!  We made it a family day when my sister in law and nephew decided this would be their 5k race debut!  The thought of seeing them just after the finish of their race was enough to keep me moving as quickly as I could to the finish.  I’m so proud of them, especially when my nephew excitedly told me that they ran the whole thing without walking!  My nephew was one of the youngest competitors on the course and that made for a super proud aunt moment!

As I made my way down the final stretch, I scanned the crowd for my family.  I heard an increased amount of whooping and hollering and sure enough, there they were on the left hand side ringing the cow bells and clapping their hands, yelling for me to go!  That made my day.  After finishing the race and grabbing a shower, we all celebrated with pizza and big ol’ smiles.  For a while that alone made all the soreness and tiredness disappear.  It also makes me look forward to continuing this journey and finishing what I set out to do.

Miss FitGab