Finally in Buffalo, Spring has arrived! The morning of the Grand Island Half-Marathon was a little cool but the sun was out and it was a perfect morning for a run.

One of the things we joke about now that we are living in the city of Buffalo instead of the suburbs is that we are 20 minutes from everything.

The location of the race was no exception.

Dave and I each ate half a peanut butter bagel with jam (recipe) and started to hydrate, including our morning coffee!

The last time we ran this race (which was our first half-marathon…and indeed race…) we were living far enough away that we had to get up pretty early to eat and get ready.

It was nice to not feel like we had to change our schedule for the race.

The other plus was packet pick-up was within walking distance from our condo the evening before so we had our bibs, t-shirt (long sleeve, which I’ve never gotten from a race before…I like it!) and post-race party bracelets all ready to go!

I was SUPER excited to be racing on this day. It was a practice run leading up to the marathon in three weeks and I was ready to go!

Since the race is near the Buffalo River and fairly close to Niagara Falls it is always a bit cooler by the water. I had to decide what I was going to wear and settled on a jacket that I could tie around my waist.

The race directors had to make some last minute changes to the course since some major construction to turn a roadway into a bike path started earlier than expected. So the race was new to everybody.

They did a GREAT job making sure everyone was well-informed and the race itself was a very pleasant course that didn’t seem monotonous even though it was a double loop.

We were determined this race was going to just be a long run and we were going to run it slow. The energy was so good, though, that the miles were going by at a quicker pace than we had discussed, lol.

There is something about “racing” at an event that infuses the body with energy and enthusiasm. Runners are a great bunch of people and it is so true that you race faster than you practice, and I think it is all due to the positive energy on the course.

People are cheering you on, those around you are usually pretty friendly and the aid station attendants are even enthusiastic (and really appreciate when you are mindful about where you are tossing your cup to make their job easier).

This race runs a simultaneous 10k and at the half-way point the race thinned out quite a bit. It gave us a burst of energy to hear the loud beat of the music and hear the cheering crowd as the 10k’ers finished. We also knew we only had to loop around once more and we would be done!

One thing interesting that we noticed about this race, there were not many people who were running together. Usually you will encounter groups of people or couples, but I felt like Dave and I were the only ones not running as individuals!

It made for a silent race (except for us, lol) when we were in areas that didn’t have cheerleaders or aid stations.

It was fine, most people had headphones in so I didn’t feel like Dave and my chatter was bothering anyone…but it did seem unusual.

The last time we ran this race we finished in 2:16:17. We were planning to run it about the same, but were inspired to run faster as we closed in on the pacer for finishing in 2 hours.

During the last two miles, she ran faster than we could keep up. So we kept our wits about us, and kept telling ourselves we were not doing this on any time schedule so we didn’t do anything stupid before the marathon.

As it happens, we finished in 2:01:10! A PR for both of us, and an encouragement that I can break the 2 hour mark. My goal is to do that at the Mighty Niagara Half-Marathon scheduled for September.

We were so stoked! I had a huge smile on my face as we finished, and people were cheering and it’s just such a great feeling to finish well!

We definitely earned our pizza, hot dog and beer, lol!

Never Say Never

What a different feeling than my last half-marathon in Japan! I was so discouraged there, as it was hot and HILLY and not enough aid stations. I did not train the way I should have for that, and was miserable for most of it. Even sending Dave on ahead to finish without me so I could walk.

I am so glad that did not stop me from ever running a race again. At the time, I said would NEVER run another half.

Never say never…huge life lesson right there!

Have you ever done a “never”? Did it benefit you, or did you regret it? How about a delayed positive? Have you done something you said you would never do, only to think “yeah, I shouldn’t have done that”…but then realize it was a good thing at a later time?