No race report yet — I still need to digest the race before I write anything here. It was a bittersweet race for me. I’m very happy to have run a fast time, especially considering how BADLY injured I was this May/June, and that I came from a fitness level pretty close to zero.
On the other hand, I know I had so much more!
More to come 🙂
But — the one thing that I do know is that I have the most amazing, supportive family. I just wrote them a big thank you that went something like this:
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My amazing family,
I owe you a HUGE thank you for all of the wonderful support today. It made the day SO special for me to know that I had so many people coming to watch & 3 crazy “groupies” following me on bikes. Honestly, could I ask for a cooler family?
A special thanks to Mark, for making the whole bike-scheme work, Leighton for helping me with my last “epic” Sunday run (that’s why I was so strong the last 10k), and to Nate for all that he did during my training cycle and before/during the race (he puts up with a LOT of questions & training talk from me :)). And of course, to all of you who came to watch today, from near and far. Wow. Then there’s just the “thanks” I owe each and every one of you for helping to make my daily training runs possible.
Although I’m happy with my finish (who wouldn’t be, considering I wasn’t even training much until 10 or 11 weeks ago?!?), I know I have a lot more I can do. The Trails qualifier is still very much in sight, and I can’t tell you how bad I want to get there. So, I’ll take some time off, but then will probably be back on the marathon training/marathon talk bandwagon again all too soon. Hope you don’t mind .
Looking forward to the next one already!!
Thanks again,
Nichole
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I had Nate, my cousin, and brother following me around & cheering for most of the course on bikes. Ahvo, from Finn Sisu, was also on his bike following me the entire way. Add on top of that: my entire family that make a 3.5+ hour drive, with a 10 month old in tow; Nate’s entire family; 2 uncles… gee. Who could ask for anything more? I could not do what I do without their constand support. So again: THANK YOU!!!
You looked a little rough at 21.5; I knew you were just behind your goal pace – you must've held on really well late in the race, as Summit Ave. is gradually uphill for miles.
3:03, 2:58, 2:55, now 2:51… next is 2:48!