Done, state #11 and my first race of 2013.

Check out the course and elevation maps.  Yikes!!

I arrived in Jackson at 1:30 and took a cab to the hotel.  I was meeting some friends at the hotel.  They had already picked up their packets but were nice enough to walk again with me.

After packet pickup we went to the Elite Restaurant.  Nothing fancy but the rolls were DELICIOUS!! We asked the waitress to keep bringing out rolls.

Race morning came and I was a bit nervous because of the weather.  It was 36 degrees with 40% chance of rain.  I decided to wear a long sleeve shirt underneath a short sleeve shirt, biker shorts, and compression socks.

We were off at 7:05.   By mile 2 I was already warm.  Did I mention it was a hilly course?  Very hilly.  But not as bad as the race in Minnesota.  I walked most of the hills but also tried to jog through them.  I need to make them my friends.

The split off between the full and half marathon was around mile 5.  I was so glad I was not running the full marathon.

I took an ibuprofen at mile 6.5 and a Gu at mile 5 and 10.  I felt good through much of the course.  I did take some walking breaks but kept pushing myself to keep on running.

A little before mile 11 the first marathon runner passed me.  Dang!   He was running fast!  Then another passed me.  And another.  A total of 4 marathon runners passed me before I crossed the finish line.

Now let me tell you about the finish line.  I had to run up a hill to get there.  Not fun.

I knew I was not going to PR but am happy with my finish time of 2:29:29.  I know that if it was a flat course then I would have definitely PRed. 🙂  I guess all of my speed workouts have helped me run a teeny tiny bit faster.

The best part was the medal!   Don’t you love it? Also, I loved the post race food spread.  Yummy!!

I am so glad I ran this race.  Oh by the way, it rained just a little bit during the race. But by then I had showered, changed, and on my way back to the hotel after eating pizza again.

Next race is the P.F. Chang’s Rock ‘n’ Roll Half Marathon in Arizona.

Just Keep Running!

6 Comments on Mississippi Blues Half Marathon

  1. Run more hills! Can you do this in Chicago?Seriously, I think living in a hilly-ish area and being forced to ecnounter some on the regular made me a much stronger runner.Good luck with the next race!

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