Jaime Hughes's Staging Area

eau claire half marathon race recap! 
TLDR: I DID IT!!!

threw my back out saturday getting into the car before our 8 hour drive. i was devastated, didn’t know if i would be able to run on sunday. all of my running since october has been in preparation for this race. woke up sunday and pain was still there but i could manage a jog. i decided to adjust my plan and go for 3:30 min run/1 min walk interval cycle instead of 5/1. when i signed up for this my time goal was 2 hours 45 minutes, averaging a 12:30ish mile. the course was incredible, the spectators gave me so much energy. the vibes were incredible. i smiled through the whole run. met a few friends along the way. and beat my goal time by 6 minutes! finished in 2 hours 38 minutes with an average 12:06 per mile. the last 3 miles were really challenging. in addition to my back stiffness and pain, my left hip started hurting and I started getting cramps in both feet. but i powered through and added extra walk breaks. at mile 6 i could really feel my dad with me, i hadn’t expected that and it was overwhelming and beautiful. i had 40 unread texts when i finished the race from my friends who were tracking me on the app and it made me feel so incredibly loved and supported. so many congratulations after i crossed that finish line- what i’ve spent 9 months working for. this race was everything i hoped it would be and more. can’t wait to go back next year and do it again!