Every mile a memory: the Northern Ohio Half Marathon 10.2.16 (full race report to come)

I will work on full race report once I've had time to condense all my notes but here is the "brief" overview" how today's race went.

Today I accomplished what I thought would be impossible: a sub 2:00:00 half marathon and not only did I do that, I smashed my 2014 time with a finish of 1:58:42, shaving almost 20 MINUTES off that time. In 2014, I was 21st in my AG so my goal was to hopefully make the top 20 this year. Not only did I make the top 20, I was 8th!!!! Just goes to show that you should never listen to the voices in your head that say you can't because they have no idea what they are talking about and when your friends and loved ones tell you can, they are right. LOL. Running with a pacer/pace group this time around was definitely a good move because it was just like having my own personal running coach every step of the way and he not only kept us motivated, but I told him I would love to try to break two hours (a lofty goal but hey, a girl can dream) so the last mile of the race, he told those of us who wanted to beat the pacer to kick it up...and he kept right on encouraging us from behind up to the second we cross the finish.

What was extra awesome is that my son's XC team volunteered for the race so I had a few cheerleaders along the way and a couple of the boys, including Rick, even gave me high fives as I ran past. And of course, Paul was taking pictures of the race so he was able to meet me at various points of the course and cheered me on. That was icing on the cake. Of course, having some inspiration not only from above, but inspiration here on Earth helped, too.

AWESOME AWESOME race, AWESOME day, and who knows, I may just make it round 3 next year. Wait, did I just say that???!!! Just keep swimming...and running.

Nailed it. What a complete and utterly amazing surprise.

Half marathon #2 complete. A PR to boot!
Start and finish at the beach? What's not to love!!!

Thanks to my pacer, Sean, and a friend I met along the way for helping me to the finish.
She finished a tad bit in front of me but it was fun running with her and trying to catch her in the shoot.

Cool swag. Thanks to the race organizers and sponsors for another amazing race.
A personal best and victory in honor and memory of all my sisters in pink.