SaaWeeeet!!!! My awesome brother-in-law and I rocked this very cool half. I was a little nervous going into it because I wasn't as stringent with my training as with the first (see here) and then to top it off, if waking up at 5:00 a.m. wasn't bad enough it was raining outside, at least it wasn't snowing...I met Brent at the fountain at Gateway then we rode Trax up to the Olympic Bridge on the U campus and as the train pulled into our stop we watched as thousands of runners were already running down the course, we were late for the start--thank goodness it is a chip-timed race.
We got to the line and started out,I had my iPod (charged and ready-to-go), my new Nathan Trail Mix Waistpack 
(I probably shouldn't have trialed a new piece of running gear on a half-marathon, but with some adjustment of placement from my hips to my waist, which I might add is right beneath my rib cage--read: 'nerd alert', but all-in-all it worked out quite well!) I took off running, Brent stayed with me for about 30 seconds then took off like The Flash. It was a great course, running through our old neighborhood, past Sugarhouse Park, Downtown and into Gateway with hundreds of people cheering us on, it was very fun.
With this being my second half, I was hoping that I would at least break even with the time I got on my first, praying I didn't do worse and wishing for better...WELL, I beat my time--2:12:14 (I averaged a 10:05/min. mile!)
The rain actually cleared in-time for our race and it was nice running weather.
Brent and I had fun and as we watched the full-marathoners come in, there was a little inkling of, "maybe I could do that..." Brent is doing his first full in July, to complete what he started last year--he was robbed of running last year with his wife, Emily, when after a 20-mile training run he ended up in the ER with an abscess that required surgery and later a tonsillectomy. I don't know if I will ever do a full, that is just freaking long and at this point my legs hurt still and running for 26.2 miles sounds plain crazy ;)
As you may know, I HAVE MS--I also have two cousins, an aunt and friends that have MS, so the cause is near and dear to my heart. I take medication (Tysabri) and do my best to stay positive and active and I have been very lucky, I desperately want to keep it that way--I have a loving husband and three cute boys that depend on me and I want to be there for them in every way possible!
