The story of my first half marathon

The outcome of the race was wonderful. I made my goal of running the whole 13.1 miles without stopping! The only time I stopped was as the drink stations because running and drinking doesn't work out so well. :) Here's the recap of my wonderful adventure.

Saturday afternoon I picked up my race packet and the reality of running the next morning became a huge reality. I couldn't believe that all the people that were at the expo would be joining me in the morning the next day. I got pretty nervous there. The one thing that really made the butterflies appear in my stomach was thinking that I'd disappoint myself by not being able to run the whole half. I started this training program in Jan. knowing that it didn't matter how long it would take me to get to the finish line. All I wanted to do was run the whole thing. I knew it was going to be a lofty goal because of so many different reasons. 1. I really disliked running. 2. I really wasn't in great physical shape 3. Fear

Saturday also wasn't the best for me because I had a choral program where I had to stand a lot. That is something you usually don't want to do prior to a big race. My legs were already tired. And to top it off I didn't get home from the concert until 11pm and didn't make it to my bed until 11:30pm. Waking up at 5:15am the next day was quite rough. :)

Sunday morning:
I woke up pretty excited for this adventure. I really think I got all of my nervousness out of my system on Saturday because I wasn't feeling nervous. I really think it's because I'm not a morning person so my brain doesn't even translate nervousness that early. My running partner picked my roommate and me up at 6am. We proceeded to pick up my other running partner and we headed downtown to get shuttled in, by school bus, to Hayward Field. It was cold that morning!! I just had a tank top and shorts on because I knew after a mile or so I would get stinkin' warm. We got off of the bus (the mental preparation of the people I was near was pretty impressive) and headed to the corals at the start line. We found the 12 minute mile group and went there. Next time I will jump up a little bit and maybe go to the 11 minute group. Mostly because we had to dodge A LOT of walkers during the first couple of miles. It wasn't too bad, but I know that our overall time would have been faster if we moved up. It took us 5 minutes to get from where we were in line to the start line. There were that many people there!

Mile 1 -4 was okay. I felt pretty good. I was just focusing on getting in a rhythm and making sure my body was working out alright. The past couple of weeks I've been having some left hip issues. A runner friend of mine said it is most likely a hip pointer (where you have over run and just need to bring down your mileage.). My hip was indeed hurting the first mile, but then it got worked out as I went on. I saw two of my friends during the 2 mile, which was AWESOME! Around mile 4 I saw a couple other friends! Loved it! It was so great seeing friends along the way. I had no idea that you need so much support when you are out there. If I ever go watch a race I will make sure to bring a cowbell or drum so that I can keep cheering for everyone. The people that were cheering us on, even though they didn't know us, really helped keep our spirits up. At mile 4 we had to endure a little hill, which was kind of tough, but not awful.

Mile 5-8 were my best miles of the race. We were going super fast and felt really, really good at that point. My comment at mile 5 was all we need to do is coast now. It was a long, flat stretch. I just enjoyed these miles so much. I ran into my friend during these miles, which was awesome. She just screamed and cheered for us!!! :)

Mile 8-9 was HARD. It was on a street that was going up a hill. No runner at this point was actually talking. When we reached the top of the hill all the runners were just cheering and celebrating. I was proud that we did not stop and walk up. We kept running (slooooooowwwwwwww jog) the whole time! The downhill part was AWESOME!

Mile 10-12 was HARD. There really weren't any people out there cheering for us. My legs were tired. I was struggling, but I kept on going. I really focused on making my goal at this time.

Mile 12-13.1 was ok. The people cheering were wonderful. I needed a boost of energy and they helped! I saw a coworker and her husband right before I entered Hayward field. She was yelling and screaming for me to keep going. Loved it! I saw the finish line and was pumped to almost be able to make my goal. I crossed the line and couldn't believe that I did it!!!!

My pace was 12:12/mile and ended in 2:40. WOW! What an experience. I really believe anyone can run now that I did it. So if you think you could never do this, think again. Now is the time to dream big dreams and make big goals for yourself. You'd be surprised how great you will feel when you accomplish them.

Next goal for me: Women's half marathon, Sept. 5th! :)