Half Marathon Review: 3 Slower Bedke sisters finish!

I did it!  We did it!  Last Saturday we ran the Wenatchee Half Marathon.  Sarah, Chelsea, Hannah and I ran in the race and finished.  It was long and it was hard, but we did it!

When we got out of the car and were getting ready to go to the starting line, Brendan told me that he needed to tell me a secret.  I bent down and he started to whisper in my ear:  "Mom, just remember to run super-duper fast just like I do."
We all beat Melissa and Lance from the Biggest Loser!  (They weren't racing with us, but when they ran a half-marathon after they were sent home, it took them 3:56!)  So we are not LOSERS!  We are definitely WINNERS!!!  
Right before the start of the race I told Neil that he had better be there when I finished the race.  He made it there about 4 minutes before I came in.  That's cutting it pretty close.

 

Hannah won her age group even though she promised us that she was out of shape.  Sarah made her goal of 2:10 (she set that goal at mile 12) and then I came in at 2:19 (my goal was under 2:30 and I set that a couple of weeks before the race) and then Chelsea ran the whole way which was her goal and she came in just under 3 hours.  Whoo-hoo! 

And we have a goal to do it again next year...not necessarily in Wenatchee, but we would like to find another event that we could do as an entire family, or at least the girls!  So everyone, you are invited!  There was a group of runners that had t-shirts that said SOLE SISTERS and Chelsea had the bright idea that we could make t-shirts for the future that said BIOLOGICAL SISTERS.  What do you think about that?  We could put BIOLOGICAL SISTERS A MOM AND AN IN-LAW  so that Mom and Mary-Anne could run on our team!  :) or we can come up with something else a little bit more clever.

Things that I learned:  take your own candy and music.  Candy:  when I would train I would reward myself with a pack of SMARTIES when I would get to a certain distance.  I thought that there would be snacks at the aid stations, but there wasn't.  The aid stations just had water or power drink.  I really would have liked gummie bears or something.  Halfway through the race they gave us GU.  What did it do for me?  Just made me really thirsty.  I wish they would have had water at that station too, but they didn't. I wasn't at all prepared for a no snack run.  So I will always take snacks/candy on future runs and if they have some at the aid stations, well I will donate the ones that I bring.  :)  Music:  We all got separated from each other before even the half mile mark.  It is a really long time to run by yourself without music to pace you or someone to chat with.  I did find one friend to chat with for a while and then she kept on going and finished way in front of me.
But all in all it was a BLAST!  I loved it and it brought back a lot of memories from cross-country days.  I can't wait to have something to train for again, but for now I am just looking forward to running for fun with friends!