My First Half Marathon and a Memorial Day Dessert!

Bri caught a great photo of my crossing the Finish Line!

I did it! I ran my first Half Marathon in an ACTUAL race.  Last summer, I ran the distance, but I just went out there and did it on my own.  This year, I got my friends, Lauren and Patrick to do it with me and we had a blast.

We stayed together all the way through mile 10 and somehow kept a pretty clipped 9:30 mile pace.  Then, between 10 and 11, there was this AWFUL hill.  I had to walk, Patrick (good for him) ran it, and Lauren slowed down a bit.  I spent the last 2 miles attempting to catch up with Patrick which was great motivation because I ended up finished with about a 9 minute mile pace and only 30 seconds behind Patrick.  My finishing time was 2:07 and this is about 13 minutes faster than I was really expecting.  It was amazing that we all did this for the first time and were so great! We enjoyed our free beer and snacks afterwards and, after a quick shower, got all our friends and family together to go out for an amazing brunch at the Great Dane.

Champs :)

My Results

I was so happy to have the support of my family and Bri and we had a really nice day together.  Today my parents are packing up some of my room and heading home.  Next weekend, I have to take Teacher Tests back in IL and the weekend after that I move out! Basically, this was my last big hoorah in Madison and I can't think of a better way to have spent it.  I am so proud that I dedicated the last few months to training for this and I feel great!

Last year, I made adorable Skinny Memorial Day Cheesecakes and I just had to share them again here.  They are the perfect dessert for the holiday and they are a great way to indulge without feeling too guilty.  However, I just ran a Half Marathon, so I might go out an eat something a little more guilty than this :).

Skinny Memorial Day Chocolate Chip Cheesecake (adapted from Skinny Taste) 

Ingredients:

12 vanilla wafers

1 8 oz package of 1/3 less fat cream cheese

1/4 cup sugar

1 tsp vanilla

6 oz fat-free vanilla greek yogurt

2 large egg whites

1 tbsp flour

1/2 cup mini chocolate chips

strawberries and blueberries

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 350, line a cupcake tray with 12 liners, and place a vanilla wafer in the bottom of each one.

2. In a stand mixer, beat the cream cheese until light and fluffy.  Beat in the sugar and vanilla.  Slowly beat in the greek yogurt, egg whites, and flour until just combined. Stir in the chocolate chips.

3. Fill each cupcake well about 1/2 full and bake for about 25 minutes.  Let cool.

4. Top each mini cheesecake with some sliced strawberries and blueberries and let chill in the fridge for at least an hour.

Enjoy :)