well... this morning I got up at 5:35 to eat. I needed to be done eating by 6 am. Normally- I don't have time I need to be done eating by- it's a little wierd to get up early just to eat. But today, I was running a half-marathon, 13.1 miles.
Sometimes I need to let that number sink in, 13.1 miles- up until last March, I had never run more than 3 miles at one time. And today, I just ran 13.1 for the 2nd time.
Not trying to brag- but I am proud of myself today. My body hurts, but I am proud.
The race started at 8 am... my dad and step-mom were here visiting which was super fun! Ty, his parents, dad and Cindy all piled into the car with me at 6:45 and off we went! I was one of 17,000 runners, we had to make sure we could get a parking space (and hit the restroom) before the race started.
One of my favorite things about today's race is that some soldiers in Mosul, Iraq decided to also run the White Rock Marathon- just in Iraq. So at the same time (which would be night over there- which makes the temperature cool and a marathon "doable") they ran too! I love that! I love our soldiers!!
In April I ran 2 hours, 1 min and 12 seconds-I had a goal of finishing- and I reached that goal.
Today's goal was to finish under 2 hours- dad said I was crazy- trying to bite off too much time at once. A newspaper article said the warm weather (50s and 60s) and high winds would make personal records tough to reach today.
I decided I didn't care what anybody said- I was running under 2 hours. I started running, it was windy, it was hot. There were a lot of people out there. At the 5 mile mark, I realized I was running too slow. I was running 9:15 miles, and needed to be running 9:08 miles from the beginning to hit the goal. So, I decided to pick up the pace.
My entourage drove EVERYWHERE! They saw me 5 times on the course! Constantly scanning the crowd looking for them was such a great thing! As I did that- I concentrated on finding them, and not on running, it was great! I told dad at one point that I was behind. So from then on, each time they saw me, he ran with me for about 100 yds, maybe more. It was fun. He told me how great I was doing, encouraged me, made some jokes, then hobbled back to the car (he has a bad knee- I think 6 operations on the same knee and one on the other, but I might be wrong on the specifics).
Everything they did and I did worked. I crossed the finish line at 1 hour, 57 minutes and 9 seconds! It was awesome! It felt great!
The second I crossed, the lady in front of me threw up= GROSS! And the first walking step I took- I realized my right knee was killing me!! But I did it. I don't care what hurts, I did it!!
The only thing is... I'm not sure that I'm ready to set another goal. Maybe after a couple of days and a massage, I'll consider it. But for today- I am sore and happy!!
I will have pictures later :)
2 comments:
That is so awesome!! You can definitely add running two 1/2 marathons to your list :).
It actually took me like 2 months to come up with things about myself. If you give yourself a while, you will notice unique things about yourself. Like you decided to run your first 1/2 marathon in a matter of weeks (right?). That is something people do not often do.
And you always have painted nails (at least when I saw you more often). That is a fun fact. Or how you and Ty met. Stuff like that is your normal but is fun for others!
I am glad i found your blog. ITs fun to keep up with you!
Yeah.... you did great PROUD of you!!!
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