Zooma Half Marathon

I was super lucky to be able to have a night away this past weekend to run a race. I went with three super fun girls from my ward. We stayed at this awesome resort- which helped with the race because if you didn't stay at the resort, you had to take a shuttle to get to the race. I think it was the most expensive hotel room I've had in my life. After a very mediocre dinner at a hole in the wall restaurant, we headed back to the resort for some dessert. Because why not have treats right before a race? 

This was us the morning before the race. We had 'matching' shirts.

And here we all are after the race. And yes- I was the only one of the 4 of us who didn't get a 'medal.' Zooma races are mostly run by women- and instead of a medal when you cross the finish line, they give you a necklace. Which is kinda awesome, because it's not like I'm ever going to wear a medal around, yet I'll wear the necklace. BUT- if you get a PR at a Zooma race, or if it's your first half marathon, you get an actual medal too. Which I didn't PR, so I didn't get one... boo. But I'm happy for my friends who did awesome (two of them it was their first half!)

 My and my darling friend Lindsey. She got a PR by like 7 minutes or something super awesome.

 It was a REALLY fun weekend. It was perfect weather for a run. It was quite cold after we were done, but couldn't have been much better during the race.
It was HILLY. Like really really hilly. And the awesome thing, is that they were all at the beginning- like the first 7 miles. ha. And I felt awesome. I felt like I sped up those things no problem. The last few miles were really hard though. So maybe I over did it on the hills... who knows. I did fine, but my average mile was 20 seconds slower than my average of my last race. And 20 seconds adds up after 13 miles. My goal was to be in the 1:40s.... and I barely made it. It was the biggest race I've ever run- which was also a really fun experience. There were pacers and everything. I chased the 1:50 pacers until mile 8. Then after mile 8 I just tried my hardest to stay in front of them. Really fun race- and I can't wait to run it again ;)

On our way home we stopped at this little cafe for lunch. It was the best meal I've had in a long time. But it might have had something to do with how hungry I was :)