IMT Des Moines Half Marathon Review

Going into this half marathon, I had no expectations.  Harvest came early this year and my long runs in September were pretty non-existent.  My running partner had gotten a few 10 milers in, but lacked on her short runs. 

So what was our goal for Sunday?   Our goal was to do the best that we could and have a lot of fun running  the IMT Des Moines Half.   


When I left the house I looked at my I pod  nano and their was an arrow pointing to the battery icon, Go Figure Not Now. Their was no way I had time to  plug it in now, so I was just hoping it was going to work during the half.

  It's 20 minutes before the race starts and we are moving to  our corral. I turned on  my nano  and got  one song and than nothing. My thoughts were I can't run without music. I've ran 3 miles, but not a half marathon without music. This was going to be one heck of a long run. I told Tree, my nano just died and we might be talking a lot more than normal. So the gun  goes off and we start to move up the street to the starting line.  I turned my garmin on about 45 min before the race started hoping it would sync up. The race starts in  downtown Des Moines and  their is a lot of tall building all around us. So, needless to say when I went over  the starting mat , I hit start on my garmin and noticed it didn't sync up. So, I'm trying to get it to sync as I'm running. I'm in no way a multi tasker.  Finally I got it to sync up about .25  mile into the race. That sure keep my mind off of not running with music. 

Me and Tree waiting for the race to start

Mile 1-3 We run downtown Des Moines making our way to Water Works Park.   I was feeling pretty good. We just got into Water Works park and my bladder is telling me we need a potty break.  I told Tree if those Kybos up a ways are full I'm finding some ground to pee on. The Kybos were full I just went behind them and squatted, by this time I was going to pee my pants anyway. Shoot,  I should of tried to go one more time before the race started.  I normally dont have to use the Kybos,but not today.


Mile 4-6 I was feeling real  good. I remember at mile 6, it felt like my legs just new what to do and it felt effortless to  run.   Between miles 5-6, I was trying to pick up the pace, because I was feeling so good. Now, my running partner on the other hand was not feeling the same way.

 
Mile 7-9 I was still feeling good, so I was  just trying  to keep a steady pace, but my running partner was struggling. 

Mile 10 -13.1 I felt like I had this race I could do it and get a good time, but my running partner  was struggling as we hit Gray's Lake.  As much as I wanted this race, nothing was more important to me than making sure Tree was going to make it to the finish.  So, we started  doing a walk/run.  We ended up doing a walk/run to the finish line.  As we turned the corner to the finish line, Tree face was getting paler and her breathing was going very fast for her.  I kept telling her to breath through nose and out her mouth.  I think she was hyperventilating. I just kept telling her to breath through her nose and out her mouth, so she could get her breathing under control.   We finally crossed the finish line and got our medals and headed for some water and Ibuprofen.  Tree just said she had a spitting headache.

 
            CROSSING THE FINISH LINE
                            YAHOO

After we got some chocolate milk  and Ibuprofen in us , we headed to the car to get into something dry and warm.  We also got our signs  that we made for Amanda and Steph that were running the marathon. We found some  Kybos  around mile 25,  and decided that was as good as any place to plant our butts and wait.  We had so much fun cheering on the runners as we were waiting for Steph and Amanda.  We held the signs up and were cheering  them on as they ran by us.  When we caught up to them at the end. Amanda  said she had never had someone at a race to cheer her on and she said it brought tears to her eyes. Steph said they were struggling to make it to the stop light were they turn the corner to the finish line. We gave them that extra motivation they  need to finish this marathon.  This was Amanda's 2nd  and Steph 10th marathon. 

Stephanie and Amanda on the last mile

Amanda and Stephanie

Amanda,Me,Tree,Stephanie and Rachelle

This was Ashten and James first Half Marathon. They had an awesome finish.  Jason and Julene, this was their first Marathon.  Julene was pretty nervous going into this marathon.  She hadn't gotten all her long runs in, due to sickness in the family.  We walked back to Gray's Lake to bring her and Jay in.  Jay was ready to run to the finish, but Julene was pretty tired. So we let Jay take off to the finish and we walked with Julene.  When Julene saw the finish line banner, she was able to run it in. I'm so proud of, all these guys. They did an awesome job. 

 

James,Asthen,Julene and Jason

My next race is the Living History Farm Race November 17, 2012

Do you remember how you felt when you crossed the finish line to your first Half or Full Marathon?

What is your next race?