Thing #74: A new PR

I am not a fast runner, which I have said (and will say) over and over and over again. I am, however, persistent. I just keep at it even when I want to give up. This weekend was no different. It was time for yet another Shamrock Half (the third of them I've run), and I was determined to finish no slower than I had finished in the past. And I didn't.

I finished faster. Five minutes faster.

As I was running, I realized that I was running a steady pace, and I was even picking it up pretty regularly. At 9 miles, I was right at 1 hour 30 minutes, and I knew that the 4.1 miles ahead could bring me pretty close to my 2 hr 10 min goal from January, so I picked it up. I ran every mile after that under 10, and my final full mile (mile 13) was 9:17, which is SPEEDY for me. I kept saying to myself, "Mom thinks you can do this," "you CAN do this," and "God, help me do this!" And I did. I ran it in 2:11:45 which is pretty dang close to a lofty goal I set in January.

I feel strong, accomplished, and just plain amazed that my body (and I) could handle that little extra push. The feeling of a personal record is indescribable.

I'm going to shoot for under 2 hours. I will do it. I WILL.