Half Marathon #13 - Mojave Narrows

I ran my 13th Half Marathon yesterday. My 3rd for the month. My JJ100 plan called for 20 miles on Saturday and 10 on Sunday. I thought about switching my days around but I really need this coming week to be a rest week so I decided to add 7 miles onto the half on Saturday.

Which means...I didn't race the half. :( I was sort of unprepared for it too. I knew we were going to be running thru the park but I thought it would be paved. Well, it was actually about 3/4ths dirt which is great but I needed road running to prep for the ET. And I was wearing Kinvaras, no gaiters, and there were some very sandy sections which got in my shoes.

The race started at 7 and it was about 45 miles away so I left at 5:15. I arrived at the park just as the sun was coming up and was greeted by this view as I waited to pay the entrance fee.

I parked, got my bib, chip, and shirt and then waited for it to start. I was a tiny bit self conscious because I wore that see thru tank. As we waited for the start, I kept wondering if anyone was like "ooh, who does she think she is." or something. I know, I know. Probably not. One good thing about it is that my posture was perfect while we were waiting. ;)

Once we started running, I totally forgot about it. It was pretty comfortable and very light. Almost like wearing nothing at all! Maybe one day I'll run in just a sports bra. Who knows. I'm feeling daring now. Ha! But really, it wasn't as bad as I thought it would be so I may even get a few more colors.

Ok, so back to the race. We had some nice views while we were running in the park. We got to enjoy them too because there were only a few hundred people running and it was a wide trail.

It was also pretty cool in there with the breeze, little bit of shade, and the water.

There were cows, horses, and assorted other animals to look at too.

This little fuzzy guy was a little shy.

We left the park for a while and ran on streets thru a neighborhood around the lake. We caught glimpses of the lake while we ran but never along the shore since all the houses were built up to it. This section was kind of boring but there was one bright spot: a little old couple was out washing their car and had set up their hose to shower us as we ran by. It felt awesome and they got a lot of cheers from the runners because it was already hot.

Then we were back on the dirt/sand and pretty much ran on that until the last mile. The whole time I was running the last 4 miles, I was thinking do I have 4 left or do I have more left. Because it was hot and there was no shade. I really was not looking forward to running after I finished the half. But my legs were feeling good and I wasn't having any stomach issues so I figured I might as well. And I kind of bribed myself with seeing Magic Mike in the afternoon if I did all 20 miles.Excellent motivation, for sure.

So I finished the official half and got my medal & dog tag, grabbed some water and talked for a few minutes with Ryan (who'd done the Billy Goat and Nanny Goat too), and then headed back out onto the course. All of the pics are from my own time out there. I may or may not have been procrastinating but I eventually got in 20.1 miles total for the day. Here's a few more photos.

I was absolutely coated in salt at the end. I looked like a ghost, I'm sure. I have got to do more running in the heat! I did a great job of getting enough water though and taking my Scaps so all in all, it was a successful day. Especially because after I got home and cleaned up, I went to the movies to see Magic Mike! Definitely not Oscar material but a lot of fun and SO worth those extra miles. ;)

One of these days, I'm going to sign up for a flat, fast, road half marathon and really race it so I can lower my  PR. I have 4 more planned for the rest of the year. So far. The Disney Half is the only one that fits that bill. Except, I hope to be doing at least 20 miles the day before. Oops. ;) Maybe I'll plan a fast one for December. Know of any fast ones in December?