One of my favorite races of the year is the Red, White, and Boom half marathon in Minneapolis. This was the race that I first broke a 2:00 half marathon, on my second race ever. It usually ends up being a super hot and humid day, but something about the excitement of the race makes up for the weather! The race also follows a pretty flat and scenic course, with lots of people coming out to celebrate the event. The race finishes by running across the historic stone arch bridge which is always a great ending!
As I shared after my last half marathon, it’s been a rough season of racing for me. After having a great 10 mile race at goal pace, and feeling like my training was going so well, I got sick and it all fell apart in 2 half marathon attempts after that. I also discovered that I had an iron deficiency, and suspect that I was overtraining and exhausting my body between the two half marathon attempts.