Harvest Half Marathon

Saturday I ran in the Harvest Half Marathon in Calgary.  I finished in just under 1:52.  I'm happy with that, especially considering I ran with a sore knee for the last 6 km and had to stop and stretch twice.  I know I could have been under 1:50 if it weren't for the sore knee.

I was kind of emotional when I crossed the finish line.  So much relief and joy.  Races can be a little intense: the preparation, the pre-race nerves, the visualizing, the doubts that try to creep in, the pleasure of pushing and racing, the suffering as it gets difficult....there's just a lot of emotion there.  I really doubted my fitness this race because I chose not to make this race a priority in my life.  I wondered what I could really do on the course and felt concerned about my knee because it had been bothering me in training.  I knew this would be my last race of the season and wanted to end the season on a good note.

I started the race at the front and ended up racing around some great runners.  Fish Creek park is SO beautiful to run in this time of year.  When we were descending into the park from Evergreen and our view took in the golden rolling hills surrounding the valley, I commented to the runner beside me, "isn't it so beautiful!"  She looked at me like, "why are you talking to me?"  My recent approach with races has been to really soak in the scenery as much as I can.  It helps pull my mind out of the racing and just breath in the beauty.

One of my favorite parts of the race was having all my family cheer me on at SEVERAL points along the course.  THANK-YOU!!  My other favorite part was seeing this guy run barefoot next to me.  I wondered how he felt about his lack of footwear when we hit some rocky path

Here's some pics from the race: