A little late but better then nothing- YOU go GIRL half recap

I finally had some time today to rethink about this half marathon I did back on September 16. This was my second year doing this run, and my 4th half of the year. So last year I ran this race at 1:59:58 and placed 3rd in my age divison. :) So this year I had a goal to beat: I must beat 1:59:58, so anything before that would be awesome!!  The last long run I had done was the 10miler 2 weeks before this, so i knew I was going to struggle at mile 10+ I always do I guess I need to run more long runs or something to get my mind pass that struggle.
So the morning of the race I had my outfit all picked out, black sparkle skirt, green top and cute socks. It actually got warm wearing those socks but it was cold at the start. This was the first time I didn't really know anyone running this race. Tall Mom Mel was running, Meredith and kali.
Alright race mile recap!

Mile1- I lined up infront of the 2:00 pacers knowing I had to keep ahead of them to beat my goal. And we were off, the first mile was a slight downhill, I always enjoy it because its a road I dont run at all so everything is so new and exciting. I kept passing people which means I should probably start closer up next time. my miles were a little off but it balanced out in the end.
Mile2- this was still a slight down hill running. I kept my pace , and noticed a lot of homeless men standing on the streets watching us run past. Im not going to lie it was a little strange having them watch us run. Im glad cops were standing around. Knowing the turn around point was coming, I started seeing people running the other direction, saw Mel but she didn't see me.
Mile3- going up the slight hill now, I grabbed some water and slowed down a bit because I knew the wright park hill was coming and I wanted to run up it.
Mile4- the first runner was coming down the hill as I was coming to it. I thought wow she's fast!! I kept trucking along that hill to the park. Im glad this year that wright park wasn't muddy like last year. It was nice seeing things I dont run around often. I saw a customer perry in the park and we gave eachother a high five. that helped me keep going. :) Finally done with the park and knew it was some down hills for a while!
Mile5- down hill, and off of a sudden this guy started to talk to me, "did you run last week at the over the narrows race?" yes I did, "i thought you look familiar what was your time?" Uh around 1:30 " mine too we must have ran the same the whole time. Well turns out this guy and I kept passing eachother and i passed him when 2:00 pacers past me and I never saw him again until i was heading to the finish and he was still going towards the turn around point.
mile 6- this is where the course splits for the 10k finish. I kept thinkning should i stop to pee? but i knew if i did my goal would be out of sight. I saw Tony and kept going up the hill.
mile 7- hilly mile. i believe this is where I took a chump here and noticed the 2:00 were passing me and off i went passing them again.
mile 8- i was still ahead of the pacers and kept going.
mile9- flat on ruston way. I kept looking for that turn around point! I knew it had to be soon. But i hadn't really seen anyone coming the other direction yet. and finally i saw a few people coming i knew it was coming closer. I did pass Mel here she was on her way back and she looked in pain.
mile 10- this is where i start to struggle. i started to slow down and ran with the 2 paces because i knew a lady there. we talked for a bit and then i just kept going. but she told me that the 2 were going faster then expected. so then i knew if i could keep ahead of them I would be golden!
Mile 11- I seriouly start to struggle more here I need to do more long runs to get past this hurdle! I kept looking back and the 2 got to me. I started to talk to them and they said this was a great race and i said i ran this last year and they were 3 min ahead of 2hrs so i knew i had this! I then took off from them and off I went.
mile12- why does the last mile feel so long?! I started to slow down due to that over pass hill. A girl came to my left and started to push me saying I have good speed and keep going you got this. i think this helped alot! Im not going to lie i think she was pushing my limits! NO walking at this point! Thank you girl for your pushing! I told a girl on my right to keep going she looked like she was dieing too.
Mile13- finally got to the top of the hill and the girl was like GO sprint to the end you got this. so off i went running down that hill to the finish line. I turned the corner and off i went sprinting. I saw the time clock at 1:57:23 I knew i had just PR , i just kept sprinting maybe I had 1:56 because of when I started the race. So i kept going and i was happy no matter what my time was! I thanked the girl that pushed me and paul was there waiting for me. I checked my time and it was 1:57:03!! :) and I placed 6th in my age group. I almost got another award because it was the top 5. Oh well!
I was glad to be done!!

mile1-9:02
mile2-8:17
mile3-9:04
mile4-8:56
mile5-8:49
mile6-8:38
mile7-8:45
mile8-8:43
mile9-8:48
mile10-8:38
mile11-8:52
mile12-8:55
mile13- 8:55

Time: 1:57:03

Total over all finishers: 88/487

age division : 6/26

female finishers: 80/468

pace: 8:56

10 mile run "Over the Narrows"

I just love this 10 miler "over the narrows'' run, 3rd year in a row running this! This race always prepares me for the "You GO Girl" in mid september since I suck at long runs. So for this race I wasn't that prepared since I had just got back from my NYC trip a few days before. I picked up my packet, and was super excited for this race. I knew a few people running it which was pretty cool, Mel, Tiana, Jessica and Paul.

Race day morning, of course I had my outfit all picked out (green sparkle, and my white seattle RnR shirt) That morning was freezing!! But I knew I would warm up as soon as I got going. 9am and off we were running. Paul and I started together and then I passed him. I was going so strong at the start that I knew that was a bad idea for me to do that.All I knew was I wanted to PR this race because I did last year so I wanted a new PR. I knew I needed to beat 1:32. So the first 2 miles I was flying. Then it was a hill over by the airport, I wanted to walk because I hate hills, and my side was hurting me because I think I started to fast. So as soon as I knew it Paul was passing me and told me that I was hauling. The whole time i was thinking if he passed me and finish before me I would be super angry! So I had to stop walking and started running again. I was still ahead of Jessica and Mel, but all i could think of was " I gotta pass paul" As we were going thru the tunnel I kept thinking you must pass paul.. I saw my uncle on his bike so it was good encouragement seeing him and having him cheer me on. We got to the bridge and I swear to God, why do mean wear strong smelly things on a race? I know it's better then BO but i was stuck running this pace with this guy with strong perfume smell which was giving me a head ache.

 I still had paul in my view, he was seriously hauling butt. No matter how fast I was going he was still a head of me. I knew he was going to take a gel around the turn around point and knew if i could pass him there and haul he would have to catch me. So after the bridge theres that long hill, usually I can do hills pretty well, but I just wasn't feeling it. So i took a gel and thats when Jessica came up to me and we started running together until I couldn't keep up. But still in my mind I needed to pass Paul. I finally got to the top where the turn around point was and saw paul and his words were "are you going to catch me?" rude i thought which made me more motivated to pass his butt! I got back on the bridge he was still ahead of me and then all of sudden Mel and her hubby was next to me running. I ran with Mel for a bit and off she went. I kept thinking i know Paul will slow down soon (well at least i hoped) So still the hill by the airport i walked a few times because I really wanted a strong finish. I could see paul walking, I knew he was having a hard time (well thats what he told me at the end) Finally at mile 9 i caught up to him. He started running ahead and then I got a head. We started walking/jogging. We were both tired! Finally almost to the finish line he started running and almost ran me over turning a corner which made me angry! So at this point the angry got me and i wanted to just finish strong. At one point he was slowing down, and I took the corner and off I went. He noticed and started sprinting as well but as I saw the clock I pushed myself even more since I saw 1:29:xx and knew I would totally beat my last years time. in the end I finished before Paul by one second while he was a head of me the whole time! I got a new PR

So paul mentioned that Im still a better runner for long distance but for speed on shorter runs he has me beat. But Im up for the challenge...

race results:

overall : 141/384

51/216 females

age (20-29) 14/42

finish time : 1:30:16

pace: 9:02 per mile