gunstock half marathon

 

before the race

 

during the race

after the race

gunstock trails half marathon

104th overall, 7th in my age group

2:35:49.5

11:54 minute mile

this past saturday i finished something from my bucket list! i ran a half marathon, a trail one to be exact. i am super happy i did this and plan on running one race a year if i am able to. it was such a cool and beautiful environment, and i loved being surrounded by people passionate about being healthy and conquering their goals in fitness. above i wrote my race stats. i was debating publicizing it but then i realized if i want to improve and keep running, i need to document it and not be afraid of monitoring my improvement or others judgment. honestly, i did not run this race with any large goal time or desire to beat people. i just wanted to finish the race and get it done under three hours (i had no idea what to expect). and i accomplished just that! plus the point of fitness to me is simply to be healthy. i love pushing my body to it's limits, it's the most rewarding feeling.

this race was about 5 minutes down the road from my house at a beautiful ranch. i arrived there with my friend chelsea bright and early at 5:30 am and we picked up our racing packet for our numbers and timers. the race started at 7:00 am and took us up and down hills and mountains, skinny rocky rooty trails, through papaya forests, past running horses, and around water towers. i really enjoyed the run and could not believe how intense it was. there were only two flat parts and they were short! i thought i would be able to snap photos with my phone along the way, but half way through i said "forget about it!" i had to focus on where i was running because there were so many obstacles below me. although i did capture a few to somewhat remember, hence those blurry photos above. the one of the cement path is right after the steepest hill in the race. it was nice coasting down that thing for a quick breather. i never stopped running once and discovered that is the way for me, because the second i slow down or stop my motivation decreases. so i pushed through all the crazy hills and inclines and finished proud with a dog tag (kinda weird) and shirt to prove it. after we all finished, the announcer said this trail race would equate to about 17-19 miles on a road. crazy.

i was sore for a good three days afterwards but was able to work out again today. i really look forward to running it again next year, and encourage all of you out there to sign up for a race! start small with a 5K and work your way up.  there is no better feeling than accomplishing the seemingly unthinkable, and realizing that our bodies truly are amazing and capable of incredible power.