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<\/a><\/p>\nDan ran short runs on his own during the week. \u00a0I skipped almost all of the short runs! \u00a0I found that I was training so hard and long at boxing that I didn’t need the extra running time. \u00a0Also, my body was happy not to be running so many miles. \u00a0I still ran long runs on the weekend, but this time I had Dan with me. \u00a0The runs went by a lot faster having someone with me. \u00a0We don’t really talk when we run but it’s different to have someone there with you. \u00a0I enjoyed the time together while still being able to have plenty of mental time to sort through my brain. I could always keep up on the long runs even with skipping the short runs.<\/p>\n
As the marathon grew closer, we knew we would run out of weekends to practice the whole 13.1 miles. \u00a0I knew that if Dan could do 10 miles, he could do 13.1. \u00a0The first time he would go the whole distance was in the race!<\/p>\n
The Morning Of<\/strong><\/p>\n The morning of the race we were both pretty nervous. \u00a0The temperature was much colder than we were used to. \u00a0Also, we had to take a bus downtown to get to the race and we were feeling anxious about getting there on time. \u00a0I checked a backpack for the first time at a race as well. \u00a0I always avoided this because I thought it would be a pain, but it was actually pretty convenient. \u00a0The bus got us downtown in time……..to stand in line for the bathroom.<\/p>\n While we were standing in line for the port-o-johns, we heard the first wave starting. I refuse to stop during the race unless absolutely necessary. \u00a0We were in wave 6 and were trying to keep a time of 2:10. \u00a0I really wanted to beat my previous time, even if just by a minute. \u00a0I knew that if I ran the same pace I’d run on our 10 miler, I would make it.<\/p>\n I’m usually really early for races and end up standing at the starting line for 20 minutes at least. \u00a0BUT, we waited for the bathroom for so long that we almost missed our starting time. \u00a0When we were walking up, our wave was starting. \u00a0So there was no time to stand and get pumped but no time to get nervous either. \u00a0So there’s no ‘before the race’ picture otherwise it would have been a selfie in the port-o-john. Gross.<\/p>\n The Race\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n Dan and I had planned to run the race together and cross the finish line together. \u00a0Since he had never gone the full distance, I was worried about Dan over-pacing himself and not being able to finish strong. \u00a0Once we started, Dan made a rookie mistake and I was glad I was there to fix it. \u00a0Dan took off like a bat out of hell. \u00a0We are used to running 9:30-10:15 pace. \u00a0We ran the first mile in 8:30. \u00a0In a race, it’s so easy to get caught up with those around you. \u00a0It’s easy to run at their pace not considering how much farther you have to go. \u00a0(And let me tell you, most of the people in front of you in mile 3 are way behind you in mile 10 if you know how to pace yourself) When I finally caught him in mile two I said, “The point isn’t to beat everyone. I can’t keep running this pace and I can’t chase you for 13 miles. Are we running together or not? Let me pace you.” After that, things went much better.<\/p>\n The Rock and Roll is a very cool race. \u00a0They had lots of local bands along the route. \u00a0Also, the Denver route\u00a0loops for the first few miles downtown so there are lots of spectators. \u00a0The sunrise was beautiful and the people of Denver cheered us along the way. \u00a0Some of the route was even our usual running route! \u00a0We passed our apartment four times, which got harder each time!<\/p>\n When we picked up our race packets, they had wristbands with paces of them. \u00a0We picked up the 2:10 wristband so all through the race I knew if we would finish on time. \u00a0Because Dan sprinted the first two miles \ud83d\ude42 we made up extra time that we needed at the end of the race. \u00a0Each mile we were ahead but close to the pacer. \u00a0In mile 10 the 2:10 pacer runner passed us and I was devastated. \u00a0My heart sank and I thought we wouldn’t finish in time but I was also thinking that the pacer was a little too fast according to my calculations.<\/p>\n When we hit mile 12, I knew it was close. \u00a0The last mile of the course was fun! \u00a0My nike app clicked over to mile 13 and we could see the finish line around the corner. \u00a0I grabbed Dan’s hand before we crossed the finish line.<\/p>\n Official Colfax: 13. 2 miles, 2:21\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Nike +: 13.1 miles, 2:18<\/p>\n Official R&R:\u00a0 13.5 miles, 2:17\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Nike+: 13.1 miles, 2:12<\/p>\n So according to my records, I broke my last time by 6 minutes.\u00a0 What made me even prouder was setting almost all new personal recorders and FINALLY breaking half an hour on a 5K, so thanks to Dan for running to darn fast at the beginning!<\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a>The Times:<\/p>\n