My First Half-Marathon

On Sunday, November 1st, Brian and I ran our first half-marathon.  Since it was our first one, our main goal was simply to finish but we were shooting for 3 hours.  Well, suffice to say we did finish, but missed our 3 hour goal by 4 minutes.  By the end of it, I pretty much just wanted to die.  Now, I'm feeling a bit more proud.  Here's a brief re-cap. 

Mile 0:  I cough a little on the shuttle ride over to the race course, but figure it's just allergies.  I'm thinking it's a cool, clear morning and perfect for a run.  My feet are already a little damp from walking through a soggy field and I just watched a poor spectator unintentionally slide down a muddy hill on his butt.  I'm optimistic that even though we only trained up to 9 miles due to some time constraints, we'll be fine and I'm open to walking portions if necessary. 

Mile 1:  Brian and I stop for our standard 1 mile stretch.  We've done this throughout our training and it really helps loosen up my tight, burning muscles which is exactly how I'm feeling. 

Mile 2:  We stop for our 2 mile stretch and our first energy block and water sip.  I'm anticipating getting into my groove in mile 3 like I usually do.  We pass a tall lady with jiggly, cellulite-y, excess skin folds on the backs of her legs.  I find her motivating. 

Mile 3:  I get a cramp in my side; it's lower and duller than a side-stitch but I try the standard remedies.  I stop and walk for a bit, I sip on some water, and I take several slow, deep breaths.  It doesn't work, so I go back to running and hope it will eventually go away. 

Mile 4:  I'm wishing I had Midol for this cramp.  It's one of the few things not tucked into my amphipod fuel belt.  We re-hydrate again, eat another block, and blow our noses.  I start to feel like I'm slowing hubby down and I alternate between feeling bad about it and mad at him for seeming to want to go faster than my body will go today. 

Miles 5-10:  These all run together.  We drink more water, eat more blocks, blow our noses again, and keep putting one foot in front of the other.  I still have that cramp and I'm alternating between praying and getting absorbed in the music on my shuffle (having turned up the volume to try to drown out how I'm feeling).  I've never hit my stride and have come to the realization that this is just going to be a tough run.  It's getting very warm; I'm thinking that the time change is rather unfortunate and wondering why they picked a course with so few shade trees.  We seem to be keeping pace with the same cast of characters. 

Mile 11:  Tall, jiggly-legged lady re-appears.  Every jiggle of her legs motivates me to keep going, because I don't ever want the backs of my legs to look or move like that.  As it turns out, hubby just wants to pass her so he doesn't have to look at it anymore. (Did I mention that the bottom of her butt was sorta jiggling out of her run skirt? - it really wasn't pretty.)

Mile 12:  Hubby and I concede to walking a mile, so that we can finish strong and run the last one. 

Mile 13:  We run again.  Just over one mile and I can stop this insanity!  Hallelujah! 

Mile 13.1:  We can see the finish line and we both pick up the pace a bit.  I just want to be done! 

Finish Line:  I slow to a walk, stagger over to the lady with the water, then the lady with the finisher medal, and then the lady with the camera.  Hubby and I pose for our picture together.  I stiffle my coughing long enough to smile.  I resume coughing and walk through the food tent - my stomach has not realized that I have stopped running yet, so it doesn't want anything.  I finish my water, pick up my bag, and feel like I want to die as I start rubbing salt off my skin. 

Post-race:  We meet up with family and go to Cafe Brazil for some food.  After scarfing down my migas and my half of our french toast, I start to feel human again.  We go home, shower-up, take a nap, and then proceed to veg-out on the couch for the rest of the evening. 

The next day:  I'm sore.  That about covers it. 

Now:  I've got a decent little tan (except on my legs which never tan, doh!).  I'm proud of Hubby and I for completing it and I'm hopeful that we'll do better on our next one in December.  On top of that, I'm starting to wonder which one(s) we should sign up for next year. 

Crazy, huh?