Hey pretty people! I’m back!! I was on a writing hiatus due to my life reaching a whole new level of crazy! But I’m slowly feeling better that everything is calming down, and I’m not losing my mind. 🙂
It’s been one whole week since the Go Girl Run half marathon here in Springfield! Fail for this race recap being so delayed!! But I still wanted to share my experience with you. I’ve been one busy racing lady, and each race is a truly different experience!
Ultramax Sports, the local running store, hosts the annual Go Girl Run race series in several cities in Missouri and Oklahoma. The first race of the series this year took place right here in downtown Springfield last Saturday. The Go Girl series offers a 5K and half marathon at each event. I was signed up for the half marathon, along with my girlfriend Heather. And our other friend Carley decided to run the 5K!
Heather is in pink and Carley is in purple! Both events took off at 7 am. I snapped a quick selfie before leaving the house because no one was up to take my picture yet!
I wore the exact outfit I wore to the Little Rock Marathon minus the rain jacket! When you find a good race outfit that doesn’t chafe in all the bad places, stick with it! 🙂 The sun was still coming up as we lined up right outside the Expo Center to start the race. It was around 50 degrees with a beautiful forecast for the whole morning.
After a quick prayer and the national anthem, we took off. I was near the front because this event was seeded by corrals and my pacer was almost at the very front of the pack! Pacers started at 1:45 for this race. I would’ve liked a 1:55 pacer to help me gain a new PR, but they only offered a 1:50 or 2:00. So I was brave and took off with the 1:50 pacer group!
As a reminder, my first half marathon was 1:56:10. So anything faster than a 1:56 would be ok by me! But you understand why a 1:50 finish would be pretty darn fast. 🙂 Regardless, after the first mile, I really thought I would be okay sticking with the 1:50 group. We were running fast, but the weather was perfect and I felt great. The pacer (a 30-something retired military guy) was extremely positive and took his job very seriously. He was so encouraging and talked us through the entire course and helped us up each hill. I was rocking along with our happy little group. And then my bladder got angry. Not again!! I had to pee. 😦 Ugh!
I officially am done drinking coffee before races. Done. Finished. Finito. I thought I had it figured out but I was wrong! At mile 6 I booked it into the porta potty stop which was luckily unoccupied. I peed in 30 seconds flat and busted out of there in search of my pace group again. I wanted to catch back up with them so badly! After another mile of mild sprinting (yuck), I made it back to them… For one more mile I kept up, but mile 9 hit and I couldn’t continue at their pace any longer. Boo!
I let them pull away and I settled into a more comfortable pace of around 8:40 per mile. That sprint out of the porta potty killed me but I was too determined to keep up! The rest of the course I was alone mostly. I passed a few ladies here and there but so thankful when I hit mile 13. I was bored of being by myself! But we hit a major hill – the biggest of the race – right at mile 13, so that helped my focus come back to the race and ran as hard as I could up that darn hill. I came around the corner of the Expo Center to see Nick cheering for me at the finish.
I was slightly bummed as I saw the 1:50 pace group relaxing and stretching after their finish, but I was extremely happy with my own finish! 1:54:02! Woot! New PR for me!
I got my big medal and met my girlfriend Carley who was sweet and waited around after her 5k for me and Heather to finish! We met up with Nick and headed into the finishers area to get a smoothie and snacks and photos!
Heather finished a little bit after me and we went to greet her at the finish line. She was struggling with a blister and the rising temps, but she still finished with a smile!
It was such a fun event! I loved the atmosphere of happy and positive women cheering on complete strangers as they crossed the finish line. Plus, they have out 6″ wide medals, wine glasses, and awesome tech shirts. Awesome awesome race bling!! Plus I love little glass for wine! 😉
Nick and I headed home for showers and relaxing. I was pretty exhausted after my new PR! Mac watched over me as I put my feet up on the couch.
Such a sweet boy!
Overall, I give the Go Girl Half Marathon an A rating! It was fun, well organized, and had awesome goodies and support. I’ve already signed up for the next race in the Go Girl series, which takes place in Columbia, Mo on May 24! It’ll be the kick off of our Memorial Day weekend!
To make things confusing though, first up is the Divas Half Marathon this upcoming Sunday, May 4, in Branson, MO. Nick, Mac, and I will be heading to Branson for the weekend on Friday night. I’m hoping it turns into a nice little weekend vacay for all of us. We are staying in my parents timeshare condo right near Branson Landing where the race starts and finishes. Nick and Mac can have fun exploring downtown Branson while mommy runs!
I hope you all have had a great weekend and are refreshed and ready for the week ahead. I’m afraid it’s going to be a long week for me with the anticipation of the race weekend!
I will talk to you all soon! 🙂
Mac & No Cheese 