I am super bummed!
I did not meet my goal of running a PR today. 
My half-marathon PR ~ 1:36
Today’s time ~ 1:39
Half-Marathon #7 ~ Skinny Raven Half-Marathon (Anchorage, AK)
(I will update as soon as the final results are posted.)
Unofficial time: 1:39.56
Overall place:
Overall women: 11?
Age group (25-29): 4?
Splits:
Mile 1&2 – 15:03
Mile 3 – 7:19
Mile 4 – 7:19
Mile 5 7:29
Mile 6 7:32
Mile 7&8 – 15:42
Mile 9 – 7:28
Mile 10 – 8:00 (yikes!)
Mile 11 – 7:21 (I think this was a short mile.)
Mile 12 – 7:47
Mile 13 – 8:41 (Can you tell I was tired?)
*****
I don’t know what happened!??! I was really optimistic I was going to run a PR today, but I guess today wasn’t my day.
I didn’t PR in the marathon this summer either, so I feel like I am doing something wrong.
Anyway, backing up to this morning. I woke up at 6:30 a.m. I didn’t have to leave until 8 a.m., but I didn’t want to feel rushed, so I gave myself ample time to get ready.
I had half of a bagel with peanut butter and sliced banana on it two hours prior to the start of the race. I also had the rest of the banana with more peanut butter.
The Big Wild Life Runs started in downtown Anchorage.
The sky was nearly cloudless. And with temps in the low 60s, I really couldn’t have asked for better weather!
When I got to the start, I did some light jogging, put my chip on my shoe, and stretched.
At 9 a.m., we were off.
I am in the bright yellow shorts.
When I started out, I didn’t want to push my pace too much, but I also didn’t want to run my first mile in 9:21 like I did in the marathon!
Overall, I felt pretty strong for the first few miles.
I kept telling myself, you are only running *half* the distance of a marathon, so you’ve got to keep up a decent pace!
I think it worked.
About half-way through, I started to struggle more.
I took one GU around mile 6.5 and then grabbed water at mile 7.
The last mile was definitely the worst. I was really tired and just wanted to be done!
The finishing chute I kept dreaming about!
Here I come!
I was SO glad to be done!
Very tired!
My biggest fan! Love you, Babe!
I walked around for a bit, stretched, and then called my family to let them know how I did.
After a while, I grabbed a couple snacks from Great Harvest. I am always happy to see Great Harvest at the end of the race!
I had a piece of white bread. I tasted different than most white breads, but I liked it.
I also had part of a cookie, but I was not impressed. I actually threw part of it away because I didn’t like it at all.
I had fun painting my fingernails so they matched my shorts. (This one’s for you, Meagan H.!)
Overall, I thought this was a great race. The course was all on paved trails, it was flat, and the race seemed well-organized.
I thought there was a sufficient number of aid stations throughout the course. There wasn’t one every mile—more like every two miles, but that was enough for me.
The trail we ran on followed the creek, so we had some nice views of nature. (Although I hardly noticed because I was so focused on my running.)
Well, that concludes the recap of my race.
I am still sad I didn’t PR.. . . . maybe I’m getting too old for this. 
Although I am still glad I raced and am proud of myself because I know there are a lot of people out there who will never run 13.1 miles in their life!
