Get There and Share Team 413 Half Marathon

On Saturday, I raced in the Team 413 Get there and Share Half Marathon, aka "Jesus Half." Our race shirts had the scripture Philippians 4:13, "I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me," the race began with a prayer, the start and finish line blasted Christian rock music, and all proceeds from the race went towards expanding the ministry of Team 413 to "get there and share" Christ. Living in the Bible Belt is pretty awesome.
 
 
Now for the pros and cons of the race:

Pros:

• well organized
•  energetic
• plenty of aid stations
• not as hilly as I thought it was going to be
• the only half marathon in the Birmingham area that is not on a Sunday
• five minute pr of 1:43, placed 3rd in my age group and 7th woman overall. (It was a reeeeally small race)

Cons:

• While it wasn't as hilly as I thought it was going to be, it still was no Utah down-hill-the-whole-way canyon race and those are the best. 
• They did not mark every mile, and since I don't have a Garmin GPS watch, I had nothing really to help me even approximate what my pace was. I can't wait until we can afford Garmins! 
• The race was small, and I didn't like that there were not many people nearby to push me. I followed my running friend/blogging friend/church friend/work friend, Lisa (who was running a 1:39 pace that I knew was a little too fast for me) until about mile 7, and after mile 10, I could see absolutely nobody in front of me for the rest of the race. What made it worse was that those last three miles weaved through neighborhoods and I was afraid that I was going to miss the turns. With the combination of being hesitant, exhausted, and having no one to push me, I am positive that the last three miles were significantly slower than the rest. 

So now that my race recap that you didn't ask for is over, onto the awkward race photos...
This was supposed to be a cute picture of me waving to Spencer and Jack right before the finish line:
  

This was supposed to be my awesome post race victory photo:

And then I went with the peace sign in the picture with Lisa:

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I swore I would never run a full marathon again in my life, but somehow yesterday I ended up looking up the Boston Marathon qualifying times online????! Running is addicting.

Spencer swore he would never run more than 4 miles, but then he signed up for a 10K TRAIL RACE that is at the end of the month!!! I am so excited for him and a little bit jealous that I can't do it, too. (Over a hundred bucks in races in one month is not in our grad school budget. Laaaaaame.)

After my race on Saturday, we went to Veterans Park so that Spencer could do his long run on the trail nearby and so that I could sit on my bum while Jack entertained himself on the playground (and if I had an iPhone I would have so been the mom on the iPhone at the park that day) (by the way I LOVE this response to that article that just makes every mom feel guilty).

That night, we went out for the best/only bobas in Birmingham! Of course they weren't as good bobas from The Street in Mesa, but that's okay because I don't even think it is possible for anything to taste better than chocolate coconut bobas from The Street.


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To those who were affected at the Boston Marathon today - my thoughts and prayers go out to you!