Volition America Half Marathon

This past Saturday, March 21, I finished my very first competitive half marathon! It was the Volition America Half Marathon & 5K Series that is touring the United States. They kicked off their inaugural race in our hometown of Boise—what an honor for us!

Going into the race, my goal had been to run a 1:35 (I've run several half marathons before, but this was my first "competitive" half). I ended up having a better race than expected and set a new personal record for myself with a 1:33:09! I was so excited. My fastest half prior to that was a 1:48 in 2009, so I was stoked to test my legs and see what they could do! My splits averaged 7:08/mile, though the breakdown was much more varied. My fastest mile was a 6:28 (mile 1) and my slowest was a 7:37 (mile 10). But I finished strong with a 6:49 on mile 13.

I ended up finishing 12th overall, 4th overall female, 1st overall military member, and 1st in my age group (25-29). I was very happy with those placings and my time.

The race was harder than I expected—I'm used to running those splits for 10k training runs but hadn't truly trained for more than an hour at a time for this race, so after mile 8, it was pretty painful. I think with a dedicated training plan I could significantly improve this time! We'll see what the future holds for half marathon races.

See more photos of the race below!

Feeling strong and waving to the volunteers around mile 6.

Running along the greenbelt at mile 6—check out my neon 124th Fighter Wing Squadron PT Shirt!

Having a "Why am I doing this moment?" from miles 8-10. The man behind me is a colleague out at the Air National Guard. It was awesome seeing so many Air Guard members at this event!

Immediately post-race. I PR'd with a 1:33:09!

I'm a lucky wife! His encouragement was what kept me feeling strong and motivated!
I was so grateful that Daniel came out to support me during this race. He drove the course and was on the sidelines about every 3-4 miles. The only thing I looked forward to more than each new mile marker was his smiling, loving face! I mean, when you have a handsome man cheering you on and saying, "Finish strong, sweetie! You're doing so well!" how do you NOT go all out and finish strong? His support made all the difference!

I have several more races planned for this year at varying distances. Can't wait to see what else 2015 holds and where my feet will run me to next!