ING Half. Finished. Dominated. Booya!

There is nothing like waking up before you normally get up to run a race... especially when you're less than prepared and rain is in the forecast. But I got myself up and on the Marta by 6:00 AM for the ING Georgia Half Marathon. I did not really set any major goals for myself going into the race and I realized that around mile 4, so I decided that I wanted to be at mile 10 by 2 hours flat (check.completed) and finished by 2:30 (ehh not so much). BUT - I finished in 2:36:53 which is only 6 minutes after my target finish time and a whopping 19 minutes faster than my last half marathon. Super big thanks to my running family on Twitter & Dailymile - your congrats and well wishes mean the world to me. ...evidently beating your last have time by 19 minutes is HUGE! :o)

I didn't know too much about this race other than that it was a running tour of some awesome Atlanta neighborhoods, had some killer hills, and that there would be a lot of crowd support. I was in Corral N and I felt wickedly rushed since they were singing the National Anthem to start and I was still making my way through Centennial Olympic Park. Ehh... poor planning on my part, I thought 1 hour would have been plenty of time to get Downtown. 7:00 the gun was off - I crossed the start around 7:30 and for the first mile or so I was just picking people off one by one, got frustrated with the walkers in the middle of the course, and got insanely hot so I stripped off my jacket and tied it around my waist (amazingly it wasn't annoying like it was in San Fran). Near the beginning of the race I was with the 2:45 pace group and I would lose them and they would catch up and then we would lose each other again. I do not know when I decided I wanted to beat the 2:45 pace group, but I told myself I would not and could not let them catch me again. And they never did. The rain started around mile 3 and as much as I was hoping it would have held off, I was so thankful it was falling since it was cooling my body temp down (the beginning of the race was super humid and I was thinking it was going to be a long 13.1 miles in the sticky air). I took Gatorade at the first water stop (on accident) and remembered just why I do not drink Gatorade in the middle of the race - my stomach started to cramp up around mile 5, which luckily Team in Training was at mile 6 so I got to down some water. The Virginia Highlands & Inman Park area was great, but like normal, I do not remember too much about courses and routes. I just run. Right.Left.Repeat. I did have motivation at mile 10 thanks to Ms. Miley Cyrus and "The Climb" ... perfect timing for that song and around mile 12 The Glee Cast singing "Defying Gravity" kept me moving. ...honestly, I had a pretty rocking playlist. Paul Simon "You Can Call Me All" - two thumbs way way up.

....I digress...

The crowd support (in the rain) was amazing. I do not know, but if you live in the Old 4th Ward and were out cheering us on. You're amazing on so many levels. I loved the people dressed in traffic barrels. To the GA Tech kids who were out in full force dressed as whoopee cushions, bananas, guys dressed as girl cheerleaders, and to the girl giving out water who knew me (still no clue) - you're support at mile 11ish was phenomenal! And near the end everyone who had already finished, your high fives and encouragement was wanted, needed, and appreciated.

I rounded the last corner and just took off when I saw the finish line. Never did my body shut down, I felt good pretty much the whole time, and I really did enjoy myself. It was awesome to know that I ran at an 11 and some pace which is a major accomplishment for me, it felt great picking off people who were in Corrals earlier than me (mean. I know), and I felt like a total moron trying to hold back tears of *joy* as I crossed the finish line knowing that I had majorly PR'ed that morning ... in the rain!!

I got to check off one more race on my marathon/half marathon bucket list. If you live in Atlanta (or are looking for a reason to visit Atlanta) and are looking for a great half or full, you should do it. I know it won't be ING next year but still... do it.

Post race, I walked to QT from the Marta station. Picked up a bag of ice for my ice bath and a chocolate milk. I soaked in the nice bathtub of cold water and ice for about 30 minutes and then waited and waited for the Peachtree Road Race 10k registration to open and when it finally did it was a total fail. I hour later, I was registered for my first ever (and probably only) Peachtree. I spent the rest of the day on the couch because I did not want to nap and ruin any chance of getting a good night sleep - HEY I had to work Monday!

To everyone who ran and finished (half marathon and full) - congrats! You all have SO much to be proud of! :o)

On a side note, I do not know how KT Tape works but I am so grateful I had not used my sample from the Disney Marathon. I have had some pretty rough right calf issues which I think was causing my foot to fall asleep so I decided it could not hurt to try it out. I "taped" my calf up this morning and there was not a single pain or issue the whole race. I do not know how it works but I love it and am going to add it to my Christmas list EVERY year and if you have any aches and pains you should 100% try it out.

I do not know what is next on my list (seriously considering Chicago in October and The Rock and Roll Half - VA Beach in September)... but I intend on just putting one foot in front of the other and getting better on incorporating cross training!