Lacamas Lake Half Marathon

I thought I was ready! But once I parked the car, peed and stepped on the field (with only 10 minuted to spare, eek) the nerves creeped in and I wanted to go home... I was tired, my legs were sore (stupid stairmaster) and I did NOT want to run 13.1 today.  Thanksfully, I didn't have time to let the nerves get the best of me... It was time to line up in the corrals.  I was so distracted, that I ended up in the 2:15 group... NO WAY! 

Ready to head to the start...

 See ya in a few hours!

Mile 1: Once I hit the 1 mile sign, I saw a potty... so I hit it to be proactive (since the line was like 13 miles long at the field)

Mile 2: This lake is PRETTY, so nice houses that I want to live in... wait... RUN! Water stop and Gel, what?! already?

Mile 3, I got this... I feel good, my legs are loose and God's with me... oh wait, heres a hill... But I got this, its not that bad...

Mile 4: Going downhill, feeling GREAT... Easy pace 9:15ish

Mile 5: Beautiful and totally flat... just us runners and the cows... MOOOO! .

Mile 6: I see the leader heading back and cheer the leaders on as I go.  6.25, another STOOPID hill and this one HURT, I broke down and walked (mainly cuz a truck was on the road and I didn't wanna get squished by passing him).  Took a Hammer Gel at the top turnaround and headed down the hill, aaah, that's NICE!  Cheering on the others going up the hill on the way down... cuz I know what they were feeling... BLAH!  I know Hubby and Evie are heading out for their 4-miler in a few so I text and wish them luck! (Wish I could have seen them start)

Ready to Roll! (Dang, she's cute!!!)

Mile 7: Down by the golf course, really pretty views of hills and trees, God's creation and said a prayer cuz my legs were starting to hurt a little. 

Mile 8: Water and Gel station before the TRAIL... 6 miles of trail, uneven gravel and mud... YUK, NOT a fan!  My legs are starting to hurt bad...  I should have slowed down at the beginning... I KNEW I was going too fast and I still have 5 to go! UGH!

Mile 9: Thank God the trails were pretty scenery, cuz I dont like running on gravel.  The group really opened up and I was running pretty much alone. 

Mile 10: Time to Hammer again, nursed this one for almost this whole mile until the water stop!  My legs are SHOT.  3 to go.

Mile 11: Hammer helped, felt OK kept my slow pace, 10:10ish. As long as I finish

Mile 12: I took a picture of the mile marker, cuz I was sooooooooooooo excited!  Little did I know, the last mile would be the worst! Turned the corner and saw it... the LEG KILLER HILL... I rolled my eyes and started walking, forget it... not EVEN gonna try...  horrible!

Mile 13: Finished the dang hill and saw the field again... what a lovely sight! got on the track and saw everyone, Isaac, Tyson, Nathan and Evelyn, My Mom and Dad and Grandma Katie.  They were ringing bells and yelling "GO MOMMY".  I started crying and couldnt WAIT to get around that turn to cross the finish line and hug my family.  AMAZING. 

Finished at 2:09:40 - NOT my goal at ALL, but I will take it!

So I chugged some Nuun, layed on the field for a few then we hung out, watched some more people finish, bounced in the bouncy house, spinny-win-win (spun the wheel for prizes) and waited for the kids race at 10:30.

The 1k kids race was sooooooo much fun! All the kids got medals at the end.  Totally worth the crappy hills to see the joy on my kids faces when they got medals put on their necks! PRICELESS!

Nater ran "too fast" and fell.. :(

So we all ran together... and held mr. uncoordinated's (Nater's) hands

Then TyTy zoomed past us...  I LOVE this pic!!! 

And they all got bling!

One of my FAVORITE family days ever...  would have been perfect without those hills... oh well!

We WILL be back next year!!! LOVED this race!



So INCREDIBLY thankful, joyful and happy that so many important people were there for support during the race.  We recruited Grandma Katie to watch the kiddos while Isaac and I ran, but the best thing was having my Mom and Dad there.  It felt so good to have a support crew and people I loved there to share this experience with.