13 half marathons in 2013 challenge

Back in January I ran the Rock and Roll Half Marathon for the 4th time in a row and my crazy running cousin ran the full marathon (second year in a row).  After the race we where hanging out and he came up with this crazy idea of him running a full marathon each month of the year and I would run a half marathon each month of 2013.  Well Ive never been the type of not accepting a challenge so I said yes not only to running 12 half marathons but 13 half marathons in 2013. My sister OCD is getting to me

Our February run was only two weeks after Rock and Roll. It was the Desert Classic Marathon/ Half put on my Phoenix Road Racers it was a small race but it had great course support. My time was 2:24 a little slower than my Rock and Roll half where I made a new personal record of 2:13.  My crazy running cousin's time was of 3:21 which was 10 min faster than his Rock and Roll Marathon of 3:31. Over all I was content with my time and finishing my second half marathon of the year.

My crazy running cousin Rigo

For our March run we couldn't fine a local race so we drove to Huntington Beach in California the race was The Shamrock Shuffle Marathon and Half Marathon. The run was the same weekend as the LA Marathon, our run was very small and did not have an expo, to make our run feel more official we decide to crash the LA Marathon expo.  The expo was like every other expo I been too, with the exception we found a different type of rolling stick. I got rolled by the inventor of addaday ultra roller it felt great, I asked him to roll my IT band cause it been bothering me during my long runs.  After the expo we headed to our hotel and found an italian restaurant and had a great dinner with my cousin the food was delicious their where no leftovers.  The following morning we woke up early had a small breakfast with the usual whole wheat beagle with peanut butter and bananas,  then we walked to the race start which was about half a mile from our hotel.  The run was awesome the weather was perfect and we ran along side the ocean great view for the whole run.  The course was a loop which wasn't bad they also had plenty of goodies at the aid stations which is always a plus on a long run. My time was 2:14 one minute shy of breaking my January PR and my crazy running cousin time was 3:50, he hadn't been running much after our February run and he still had a great finishing time.

For our April, May and June run we didn't get to run together but I did run with great company.  In April I ran the Nike Women Half Marathon in Washington DC with my younger sister Julie. In this race instead of getting a traditional finishers medal you get a tiffany and co. necklace with one of a kind design! Thats the only reason my sister runs with me This run was hard for me.  We woke up very early cause we had to take the subway to the race start line, when I got out of bed my legs where sore! They where sore cause of all the walking we did saturday and I was wearing sandals, not a good combination if your gonna do a lot of walking and running a half marathon the next day. In this race I wanted to beat my previous personal record because of my March half I was 1 minute shy of breaking it.  But this race was packed I would had to weave around people to try and break my PR, so after mile two I decided to just run the race with my sister and help her make a new PR and she did! her finish time was 2:27 which was 14 min faster than her previous half in October.  I am very proud of her she has come a long way since her first half marathon! I recently convince her to run a full marathon with me :)

My May half I ran with my friend kardenas we train together for the San Diego Rock and Roll Marathon. It wasn't an official race, but we ran the distance of 13.1 and it was our last long run before our Marathon.  It was on Memorial weekend so we decided to named our run The 1st annual Memorial Weekend Half Marathon. We started very early because here in Phoenix the weather is getting very hot! It was a good run my friend made a new Personal Record which is always a plus our time was 2:39 a little slower than my previous half's but the weekend before we had our longest run for the full which was 20.5 miles.  Hopefully we can make this weekend run a tradition and run a half marathon distance every memorial weekend, anyone want to join us next year?

For the June half I ran it this past weekend with my new friend Kim (follow her blog at http://teamsprinklesandglitter.blogspot.com) only one week after my full marathon and Ms. Sprinkles and glitter thats her blog nickname half Ironman triathlon.  With that said it was a hard run, we started a little after 5:30am and it was already 80 degrees! the whole run I felt thirsty and hot, and maybe wearing a black running shirt didn't help either, it was a sloooooow run! I was really trying to push it but my body just wouldn't respond like I wanted it! but we manage to finish. Who in their right mind is willing to run a half marathon only one week after a big race like a Full Marathon and Half Ironman only this two future Ironman's ladies! on a cool note about my friend Kim, she is currently training for Ironman AZ in November I'm very excited for her!

For July I have plans in running my half marathon in Durango, MX in my parents home town.