As part of our marathon training (yup, 12 weeks to go), my friend and I raced the Hyannis half marathon in Hyannis, MA. Hyannis is about 2 hours away on the Cape and where the Kennedy's live and the JFK memorial is found. We ran past the memorial as well as JFK beach (see photo) which was really nice. There were lots of big beautiful houses along our path and the smell of salty air. A very pretty race.
Unfortunately, our race day was not sunny like these photos, but rather a cloudy rainy day in the high 30s. Luckily, the rain held off until just after we finished (though those running the marathon got quite wet). My friend and I ran together for 9 miles at just under or at a 9 minute pace holding ourselves back and chatting about the scenery. At mile 8, I felt myself get the itch and knew we were running at a perfectly even pace (within 5 seconds each mile) and were going to break 2 hours--this is a great feeling. At mile 9 I safely gave into my itch, picking up the pace to 8:30s and the again with the last 1.5 miles to go (my last half mile was 7:30). There was a large crowd and I got even more motivated by counting the people as I passed (who said I was competitive?). I crossed in 1:57 (a personal best for me) after realizing the race was a little long at 13.26 instead of 13.1 (yes, that extra .16 matters when you are hauling @ss). I still passed the finish feeling my best for a half. Seems it was one of those few times where the stars and plans line up. I only hope the marathon proves as memorable and successful. Sorry for no finish photo, this was a huge race and the photo guy missed me:(
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