Picky AmBADASSadors

I'm Late at Posting This

I've been dealing with grief, so catching up on posting here. This was my half marathon number 3. I missed my goal time of breaking 2 hours by a minute and a half or so, coming in 12th of 46 in my 50-54 female age group.


Well, I'm a bit slow in posting about my race here. In mid-April 2023, my sweet hamster boy, Hammy Cash passed away. I've needed some time to do self-care, especially as I'm about to do my first, full marathon this week. Mornings have felt slower, but I know this is part of grieving and it just means I really loved my pet so much! 



The week of this race, I had a tummy ache most of the week. I thought it was gone thankfully by race day, but it reared its ugly head around mile 9 of the 13.1 miles that day. I'm told there was a nasty set of winds, but I didn't notice, haha. I just wanted to break 2 hours so badly, but I missed it by just over 1.5 minutes. Oh well, live and learn!



This race is on a favorite course of mine. It can be hilly in sections. But, I love running along the Huron River here in Ann Arbor, Michigan. I really enjoyed the sunny day, the course, the spectators, and being able to run, all of which are such gifts. My sweet hubby JT rides his gravel bike to find me in sections and cheer me on and this means so much to me too!



I plan on doing this half marathon in 2024 too, when it will be the 50th anniversary of the Dexter-Ann Arbor race. I remember doing this as a 10K in high school in the 1980s, hahaha! I returned to running in the pandemic in April 2020 and racing in April 2021. Even though I'm 51 as of this writing, I've been super happy with my improvements as a runner.



My main lessons from this half marathon seemed to be about adjusting pace. I didn't account for humidity, wind, and well, my grief and tummy ache. Lessons learned that I'm not a machine! Oh wait, I'm human? But, on a serious note, even though I trained for a 4 hour, 13 minute marathon, I'm giving myself a cushion for this first race, based on the lessons I learned from my race here. Michigan weather is tempermental and well, yes, my first marathon will be hilly :) 



Onward and upward, I say! :) 



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