Running is a mental sport...

...and I must be insane! Yesterday I ran the Shamrock Half Marathon in Virginia Beach, and today I am feeling every inch of those 13.1 miles. Even though I'm sore now I didn't suffer too much yesterday, and I feel I was pretty well prepared for the distance. I had some stomach troubles during the run (not to mention after) and I didn't do quite as well as I had hoped, but I finished in 1:52.53 which isn't too bad for my first time. I came in 1350 out of 5996 overall, 444th out of 3419 women and 67th out of 375 in my age division.

Erin and Jen ran as well so we decided to make "team" t-shirts. We settled on Romans 14:8 as our motto:

" If we live, it is to honor the Lord;
And we die, it is to honor the Lord.
So whether we live or die, we belong to the Lord."

I was surprised at how many comments I got while I was running. At least 20 people told me they really loved my shirt...and they always seemed to pop up just when I was ready to give up and slow down. It was just the motivation I needed to keep working hard.

All through the race I kept telling myself I would never do another half-marathon again...but as soon as it was over I was talking about "next time." I'm debating doing the Charlottesville 10-miler in two weeks, but it's the same weekend as the EcoQuest race here at Longwood so I haven't decided which I want to do yet. Next on the list is the Smith Mountain Lake Triathlon on May 2nd, so I've got to get back on the bike and back in the pool! That is as soon as I regain the function of my legs...