IMT Des Moines Half Marathon Recap

I ran my 4th half marathon of the Spring/Summer/Fall on Sunday. It was a perfect day for the 2010 IMT Des Moines Half Marathon!

I ran as an American Cancer Society DetermiNation Athlete in memory of my dad and 2nd mom.

It was a bit chilly, but nothing some tube sock arm warmers and cheap mittens couldn't take care of. I was excited. I had my sights set on a PR, but just wanted to get out and run relaxed.

My trusty side-kick and personal race photographer was by my side and ready to cheer me on.

A record was set with over 7,000 runners registered for the marathon and half marathon.

 

The course was pretty much out and back, but since I wasn't familiar with the area, I didn't even realize this. I am jealous of the people who live in Des Moines and have such a great trail system to utilize.  Makes me want to move...

I did really well this year when it came to posing for the official race photographers. :) I smiled, waved and gave two thumbs up - can't wait to see them! The photos Nic took, I mostly realized he snapped them afterwards - except for this set where he let me know he was there by his annoying little call he does. I always tell him to not do that (at events when I am sitting by him) but it worked so well here! Once I heard it, I knew it was Nic right away and laughed.





Here is my favorite set of photos from the race - after smiling for Nic, I shifted by focus back to the course, but quickly saw some of the best spectators...







Clearly the guy behind me thought these guys were pretty awesome too...



"Fee Hi-5's!" This was my favorite sign of the day, well, right after my ultimate favorite, "Meth Kills - Use SPEED." Haha, I laughed out loud and told the guy it was the best yet.



This was around mile 12 - with just one mile left I was running out of steam quickly! But I just held on to the fact that a huge PR was in reach and told myself "what was one more mile? JUST KEEPING RUNNING!"



Umm, heck yes. Best photo of me running ever. :)



Happy with my new PR!!

::Race Stats::
Total Time:1:43:26 (previous PR was 1:45:23 set at the Fargo half in May)
Average Pace: 7:54 minute miles
Overall Place: 407th
Division Place (25-29): 31/476
Gender Place:100/2520
I did a quick search and 9 people from my town ran and I was the fastest! :)



Cancer sucks - but at least I am not sitting around doing nothing about it.  I've lost too many loved ones to this disease and I will not stop running until we find a cure! I was able to surpass my $1000 fundraising goal for the American Cancer Society thanks to many friends, family and volunteers!



One of the many benefits of being an American Cancer Society DetermiNation athlete - you don't have to wait in a long line to get a massage! Plus I snagged a bunch of post race goodies for my 7 mile cool down. ER WHAT?! Yep, I had a 20 mile training run on the schedule for Sunday, so after a short 10 minute break from the half marathon, Nic and I took off to run an additional 6.5 miles to round out my total distance for the day at 19.5 miles. Crazy, right?



::Overall thoughts on the race::
LOVED IT!  Despite the weekend being crazy (I was in Detroit on Friday-Saturday) I loved every minute of it. The race was very well organized (I can't comment on the Expo - we didn't get into Des Moines until late Saturday), the course was beautiful and there were spectators every where. The course for the half was very flat and clearly very fast. I will for sure be back next year for the half or the full if I don't run the TCM.  I would highly recommend this race to anyone.

After the race, we got way lost trying to get back to the hotel (due to the roads still being closed) showered quick and then headed back downtown to grab lunch. We stopped at the delicious Centro and enjoyed pasta and a black bean burger. DELISH!  I am going back to Des Moines just to eat there again.

After lunch, we headed to the mall, made a quick stop to enjoy the PappaJohn Sculpture Park.





Freaky, right?!



Oh my - do you see the resemblance here? I should be scared...



It clearly was a beautiful fall day!







My favorite sculpture at the park - Nic and I did our best to recreate parts of it.





This one was called "T8."  See it?



By the end of the day I was dragging. Much of our time spent at the sculpture park and the mall I spent leaning on Nic and making him drag me around. All I wanted to do was lay down and sleep!

We grabbed Maia from boarding on our way home and I immediately got to work in the kitchen. Remember I made some pumpkin puree the other day? Well part of it is now delicious pumpkin butter! Recipe coming soon!!