Kooky-Spooky Half Marathon

My running buddy, Alyssa, runs one half marathon every year.  I hadn't even realized how long it had been since I ran one, so when she started talking about picking one for this year I told her I would join her.  I let her do all the researching, and she decided on the Kooky-Spooky in Golden, CO.  The main attraction?  Breakfast burritos and chocolate milk at the finish!!! :)

So we continued doing our long runs together on the weekends in preparation for the race.  She lives up north and I live down south, so we have our usual Saturday morning meeting place in the middle to hit the trail.  I am so thankful to have such a great running buddy because it makes the runs so much more enjoyable.  Plus it's quality time to talk about whatever you please.  Unfortunately she ended up with an injury that made it hard to run long distances.  She switched to doing the 10K and I stuck with the half, but the race was just as fun.  The best part is having someone around for the pre- and post-race fun.

Alyssa grew up in the Denver area and her parents still live there, so they were kind enough to let us stay there the night before the race and feed us the oh so important night before meal - homemade chicken pot pie and a gooey brownie.  That's some good running fuel!

The morning of the race was beautiful!   A little chilly but great running weather.  I couldn't race without something mango, so I made sure one of my race morning fuels included mango.

Apple Mango Strawberry - tasty!

We met up with another one of her friends who was also running the 10K.  Once we were checked in and warmed up, we were ready to go!

The race was very well organized, so we started right on time.  The half runners were put in the shoot first.  After the singing of the national anthem, the gun fired and we were off!  I took off feeling great and running with the pack.  What I didn't realize was how fast the pack was running.  I passed the first mile marker, looked at my watch, and knew I was in trouble.  That was not a pace I could hold for 13.1 miles.  But I was feeling so good, I just kept going.

Feeling great, but I will not let girls
in tutus beat me! ;)

The other problem was the the entire first half of the half was downhill, so of course I was feeling great.  Then we turned around to come back, and oh my.  I paid for running too fast.  My legs were done and I still had unbelievable hills to conquer.  One thing that helped was that the half course did join up with the 10K, so at least there were other people to run with and push me on.  But the hills and the heat really got to me.  I think the looks on my face will tell the story.

"I'm so hot!!!"

Trying to smile like I'm okay

Am I done yet?

Despite the mental battle that was going on as to whether I could make it, I did finish.  I haven't been that happy to see the finish line in a long time.

Hallelujah! 

I made it!

 I must have given it all I had because my legs were a little wobbly after that.  Thankfully the poles of the finish tent were there to hold me up while I recovered.  Haha!  And thankfully it was a great post-race.  The chocolate milk hit the spot!  And the breakfast burrito was just what I needed to refuel.  They also had water, Gatorade, Naked Juice, bananas, bagels, and Muscle Milk.  I was happy to take it all!

The race organizers had also done a great job of getting lots of prizes for everyone.  They did a raffle for each distance, and I was very impressed by how many things they had to give away. Surprisingly,  none of us won a raffle, but we did stick around for the race awards.  It turned out that Alyssa and I both placed 1st in our age group.  We were shocked.  The great thing about running smaller races!

I certainly can't say I felt my best that day, but it was fun nonetheless.  There's something about the adrenaline and the thrill of racing, being surrounded by fellow runners, and enjoying it all with good friends.

To round off the day, I came home and made homemade pizza with my roommate.  I would argue that pizza is the best post-race meal, especially when it's homemade!

Mmm.mmm!