Today, I ran the St. Luke’s Half Marathon, in beautiful Allentown, PA. I took the above picture around 7:40 am this morning after I parked but before I walked over the the starting line.
First of all, I want to say thank you to all the people who have been cheering me on starting with my husband and family. Thank you to everyone who sent me texts wishing me well or comments on my blog or on Instagram. I appreciate you all and your kind support.
I was a little nervous before this race because did not train for this race as much as I trained for the 2022 St. Luke’s Half Marathon. However, I did work really hard this weekend on controlling the things that I could control. I drank a lot of water on Friday, Saturday and up until the start of the race. I made sure that I got enough sleep last night. I drank 0 alcoholic beverages on Saturday. I drank decaffeinated coffee Monday-Saturday this week then this morning I allowed myself caffeinated coffee and caffeinated nutritional GOO. This is a strategy that some people use to get more bang out of the caffine that they consume on race day, it is called a coffee taper.
Perhaps, all these things worked. I looked up my time from 2022 and this year, I finished 7 seconds faster. If you are interested, here is the link to the wrap-up to the St. Luke’s Half Marathon from 2022.
Today was warmer than it has been lately. Yesterday, I wore my winter coat for a portion of the day because the weather felt a little cool and damp. Today it was 57 degrees when I woke up and maybe in the low 60’s when the race started. It was sunny and by the time the race concluded it was maybe 68 degrees. It was beautiful just a little warmer than it has been on my long run days for the most part. Gorgeous day though!
The St. Luke’s Half Marathon is a well managed race that always provides an excellent experience. I appreciated all he people on the sidelines cheering the runners on. I also loved seeing my family right before I crossed the finish line. Seeing them made my day!
In any case, I wanted to share two pictures with you today taken after I finished the race.
How is your Sunday?
You are AMAZING!
Thank you!
Go Katie!!
Thank you!