13.1 - Half Crazy

Today I ran my first Mini-Marathon, well, mostly ran. I did walk three times, but overall probably only walked less than a mile! I was overall very satisfied with my total time and pace! I had two goals, either finish in 2:30 or keep a 12 min/mi pace. We'll my overall time was 2:31:33, so I did get under my 12 min/mi pace and just barely missed my goal time!

It was definitely an awesome experience! I think everyone should try it at least once. For the mini I would actually suggest running your first one with a buddy. You should both have similar goals in kind, but be willing to have fun too! I wish I would have stopped to take pictures along the way a few times, but felt weird doing that by myself. I think if I did it again I would want to run with a friend.

A few other things I learned:
- the pack never thins out
- you are always either getting passed or passing someone
- always go to the back of the 'pit areas' they are less congested
- it's really really hard to run and drink out of the paper cups
- the pain does go away

This was a fantastic experience and so well run! Seriously the 500 Festival staff and volunteers were awesome! I think I would love to do this again and hopefully with Jeremy or a friend! Although next time I will definitely invest in one of those belts that hold water... Those pit stops and paper cups are no fun!