la jolla half marathon recap

I did it!!  After so much training, mental preparation, and pushing my legs to the max I completed the La Jolla Half Marathon this past Sunday.  I finished in 2:00:55, which was right at the end of my goal time, so I was pretty excited.  More importantly, I finished feeling strong.  

 A couple weeks leading up to the race I did not feel this way.  My right hip had been hurting and then my left knee started acting up too.  After just a short run, I would feel like the above run.  Before the race I had the biggest stomach ache because of nerves.  I didn't want my knee to hurt to the point that I had to walk and feel like all of my training went down the drain.  

This half marathon is one of the most challenging runs in San Diego.  There are multiple hills, and that hill at mile 6 is up Torrey Pines, one of the hardest hills I've ever run in my life.  The first hill hurt my knee a bit, but I put mind over matter and the pain subsided.  The first five miles flew by so fast, I think I was so focused on the Torrey Pines Hill.  Once I got to the top of that crazy hill at mile 6 I felt amazing, crazy tired, but so elated that I did it and didn't walk.  Then I was met with more gradual incline.  It started to kill my motivation and miles 7-9 were hard for me to wrap my head around.  Once I got to mile 10 I knew that I had this in the bag and I great.  I kept checking my pace throughout on my watch and I was doing okay on time but knew I had to pick up my pace in order to finish by 2 hours.  The last mile was probably where I wanted to cry because the hill was challenging, but I got super motivated and ended up sprinting up the last part of the hill through the finish line.  

Here's some pictures documents the day:

Pre-race smiles :)

 The Mr. got a great shot at the end.

The best part of the race of finishing and feeling amazing afterwards.  The Mr. kept watching for me to make sure I wasn't limping when I finished, which I wasn't, so I was on cloud 9!  The next best thing was mimosas afterwards!  

This experience truly taught me that if you set a goal and pursue it with your whole heart, you will meet it.  Also, anything you put your mind to can be achieved!  

Love,

Jamie