Army Run 2012

Happy Friday everyone!

As most of you know, I ran my third half-marathon last weekend. It was the Army Run, the same half I walked last year, and while I would totally walk it again it was pretty nice to be running this year! The route was the same so I knew exactly what to expect, which was both good and bad since there is one part in particular that I found incredibly boring last year and wasn't looking forward to but it turned out to be not quite as bad  as I remembered :P

The Army Run is unlike any other race I've ever done since it's in support of our troops. No matter what your political views are, you really can't help but feel so grateful for all the men and women in uniform out there fighting for our safety! I've always felt that this race is the least we can do to demonstrate our support.  Another really cool aspect of the race is that the Canadian troops in Afghanistan hold a "shadow race" there so they can participate too.

I started out faster than I would have normally, only because it was so cold  and I just wanted to warm up! It was a pretty windy day too and it felt like the wind was always against us, no matter what direction we were going in. I managed to maintain a pretty consistent pace and I didn't take any walking breaks, mostly because I was afraid I'd have a hard time getting started again :P The only down side to the race was that I got a pain in my right thigh again around mile 11. The same thing happened in NYC but this time it wasn't quite as bad so it didn't slow me down as much.

Mile Avg Pace 1 10'22"/mi 2 11'04"/mi 3 11'22"/mi 4 11'07"/mi 5 10'46"/mi 6 10'53"/mi 7 10'51"/mi 8 10'45"/mi 9 10'55"/mi 10 10'55"/mi 11 11'04"/mi 12 10'44"/mi 13 11'04"/mi   I finished in 2:25 so I was really happy :)! According to my Nike watch I ran 13.35 miles though so I need to work on running in a straight line :P  One of the highlights of this race is always having a hot man in uniform put the dog tag medal around your neck.  I was really impressed with the hoodies they gave us instead of those blankets; I'm not sure what they are made of but they zipper up which is awesome on a windy day! I live about a mile from where the race started and ended so I really appreciated having something to keep me warm on my walk home!  They also gave us a really cool snack box that I took a picture of but I just spent 15 minutes fighting with Blogger to put that pic here and I give up. So you'll just have to trust me on that one :P As always, the Army Run was an amazing experience and I know that I will continue to do this race every year as long as I'm in Ottawa :)  Do you guys have a race you do every year? Anyone racing this weekend?