Many of you know that I have been training for a half marathon for most of the summer, or you have seen me in my running clothes running home from church every Sunday morning to get my long run in for the week. My race was Saturday morning at Historic Fort Benjamin in Lawrence, and I'm happy to say that I set a new personal record for myself. This was my third half marathon, which is 13.1 miles. I ran the race in 1:53:20, just a bit better than the first half marathon I ran in May 2005. Imagine that, you can run faster even when you're older!
time: 1 hour, 53 minutes, 20 seconds
average pace: 8 minutes, 38 seconds per mile
place overall: 603rd out of 2578 participants
age group place: 39th out of 245 women age 30 to 34
The coolest thing about my race was that I got to meet and shake hands with the governor of Indiana, Mitch Daniels!!! We were running in residential Lawrence and fairly spaced out by that point in the race. I was sort of by myself for a stretch, and as I reached a turn, I noticed a man standing on the sidewalk watching the runners go by. That's not unusual, because many family and friends stand along the race route to cheer on the runners. He was very inconspicuous, wearing jeans, a jacket, ballcap and quietly drinking a cup of coffee. I looked over at him, and he looked at me, and I realized who it was. I excitedly waved and said, "Hey!" (No, I couldn't think of anything more meaningful than that at the time.) I ran over closer to the sidewalk and shook his hand. Most people were just running by concentrating on the race without even noticing him. I wonder if I blew his cover? He shook my hand very firmly and told me that I was doing terrific. (He didn't even fault me for wearing a PSU shirt here in IU and Purdue country.) He is up for re-election, is himself a runner and active person, and the fact that he came out to watch the race without making it a spectacle makes me respect him even more than I already do. I had a great run, felt awesome, and got to shake hands with the governor in a very casual, informal basis without a mob of people also fighting to meet him! My only regret is that I didn't get a picture or an autograph.
time: 1 hour, 53 minutes, 20 seconds
average pace: 8 minutes, 38 seconds per mile
place overall: 603rd out of 2578 participants
age group place: 39th out of 245 women age 30 to 34
The coolest thing about my race was that I got to meet and shake hands with the governor of Indiana, Mitch Daniels!!! We were running in residential Lawrence and fairly spaced out by that point in the race. I was sort of by myself for a stretch, and as I reached a turn, I noticed a man standing on the sidewalk watching the runners go by. That's not unusual, because many family and friends stand along the race route to cheer on the runners. He was very inconspicuous, wearing jeans, a jacket, ballcap and quietly drinking a cup of coffee. I looked over at him, and he looked at me, and I realized who it was. I excitedly waved and said, "Hey!" (No, I couldn't think of anything more meaningful than that at the time.) I ran over closer to the sidewalk and shook his hand. Most people were just running by concentrating on the race without even noticing him. I wonder if I blew his cover? He shook my hand very firmly and told me that I was doing terrific. (He didn't even fault me for wearing a PSU shirt here in IU and Purdue country.) He is up for re-election, is himself a runner and active person, and the fact that he came out to watch the race without making it a spectacle makes me respect him even more than I already do. I had a great run, felt awesome, and got to shake hands with the governor in a very casual, informal basis without a mob of people also fighting to meet him! My only regret is that I didn't get a picture or an autograph.
Saturday was an awesome day, one that I will never forget. I just had to tell you all about it. Oh, and to make it even better, PSU beat Michigan!!! What a great day! Thanks for stopping by!
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