Well, I did it!! I tackled my first half marathon on Sunday. Boy it feels good! Over the past couple of days, I've been very sore (stupid me - didn't warm up) but it was totally worth it - especially the medal :)
The night before, my running partner, Teri, and I were going over our strategy. Run 3 miles, walk 1, run 2, walk 1 - so on and so forth. Got it. So, went back to my room and Teri was nice enough to let me borrow a pair of running capri's for the race. I had already bought a pair of non-slipping shorts (supposedly) so I decided to try on the running capris. I swear I went back and forth for about 15 minutes trying on those dang pants! Finally I said "Screw it!" and went to bed.
As the alarm went off at 4:45am - yes, that's right, 4:45am - first thing that popped into my mind was "What the f*&^ am I doing." Seriously - me, slow as heck runner, running in a half marathon with about 3000 other people?! What was I thinking?? But as I hit snooze for the last time, realized this is what I've been training for since end of April, beginning of May. So, I got my lazy butt out of bed and got ready. Still not deciding on which pants to wear.
As Teri and I were driving to the start, we were talking about how stupid it was to be there at least an hour and 15 minutes before the race. Why on earth would ANYONE want to be there that early?! Well, we soon figured out after the race and almost crippled, to WARM UP!!
As we were waiting, I decided to change pants.....again. In the port-a-potty. Slightly cramped in there but I made it work. So once I was ready, I was pumped. Bright pink tank - check. Bright pink visor - check. iPod music ready to go - check. I was ready......at 6:25 in the morning. The race didn't start until 7:15am. So we talked at our pace spot - this is where the slow people have to stand and wait. My adrenaline wasn't pumping until they sang the National Anthem and once that was over, I was bursting out of my skin to go! Finally crossed the start line with Dave Matthew's blaring, So Much to Say, and was off.
When I was running the first 3 miles, there were people cheering for you on the road that didn't know you. That gave me chills. They don't know you but they are cheering for you to finish. As I was running by these people cheering and over the Mississippi river, I got a little teary eyed. I was thinking "These people don't know me and are cheering for me to finish. How can someone NOT cry after they finish the 13.1 miles? I'll save my tears once I cross the finish line." Ha! Who was I kidding!
Couldn't have asked for better weather that day. Thoughts that I was thinking as I'm running were "Man am I hungry - those fiber bars didn't go very far, now did they", "I really need to pee" - did use the port-a-potty twice - eww, and "Wow - look at that guy in the wheelchair that just zoomed right by me.". No joke, he was kicking a*&. Obviously mine.
Once we reached the 10 mile marker, I was in bad shape. I could still run but man did it hurt. As I approached the 11 mile marker, I was thinking "Please shoot me know. Screw the tears after the finish - I just want to get it over with!!" So for the next 3 miles, we tried to run but mostly walked. But once we hit the 13 mile marker, Teri and I sprinted to the finish line and it felt awesome! Of course a picture of me crossing the finish line isn't pretty but I indeed did it :)
So, that was my experience with my first half marathon. Am I going to do it again? Absolutely. No doubt. Will I wait until I can walk like a normal person without people asking me why I walk like a pirate or Frankenstein - yes. But it won't be too long before I get out there again and start running. Maybe next race will be a full marathon!! Got ya :)
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