I did it! I ran my first half marathon this morning and did better than I ever thought I would. My overall time was 2 hours 17 minutes and 11 seconds. I averaged a 10 minute 29 second mile. Impressive for my first half marathon.
I had several goals in mind and I hit almost all of them:
I wanted to complete a half marathon. I was OK with walking, but I knew I could run the whole thing.
I wanted to finish before the first marathon runner finished, and I did! I was shocked that I did this! I know that sounds crazy, but the two 10K's that I did this year I was passed by the 1/2 marathoners.
Several weeks ago I wanted to finish under 2:25. In my training I was running an 11 minute mile, and sometimes even longer.
Then I decided I could finish under 2:22 and maybe even 2:20.
During the race I knew I was averaging about a 10 1/2 minute mile, so I thought maybe I could finish under 2:15. That did not happen, but that is OK.
I arrived a little later than I wanted to this morning so I was nervous to get to the starting line and get lined up, but I made it...just barely. The atmosphere was amazing with so much excitement. I had on capri's, a jacket, and gloves. It was very cold at the start. The temperature was in the lower 40's.
I started off strong, but not too fast. All the research I did said to start out slow to preserve some energy. I am glad that I did because this was a very hilly route. The description on line of the route is very inaccurate. My definition of rolling hills are completely different than the people in charge of this race!
The first 3 miles I averaged a 10:39 pace. The end of the first 3 miles is a long, steep hill up to Liberty Memorial. My legs felt good, and I was surprised, because the hill seemed like it went on forever. I knew Mark and the girls would be waiting for me at mile 4 so I kept on pushing on. There was a second huge hill right after the Liberty Memorial hill...not easy or fun. But then I saw Mark and the girls so I was good. The next 2 miles were flat and downhill and went through the city and into Westport. That felt good and I was able to pick up the pace a little bit, although there was a long, steep hill coming out of Westport.
After that up hill there was a nice, long downhill into the Plaza. My 10K time was 1:03:46, which was better than my Hospital Hill 10K time. That was an average of 10:18 per mile. I gained a lot of time at miles 3-6. Although at mile 6 I started to get tired thinking I was only half way done and still had a huge 2 mile, yes 2 mile, hill to conquer. About that time, at mile 7, was Mark and the girls again. It was awesome. Lauren shared with me that Addison dropped her blanket in dog poop! It was hilarious that she felt like I needed to know that in the middle of my run.
The toughest part of this race was mile 8-10. It was all uphill. A nice, long, gradual incline for 2 miles. Obviously I slowed down on these hills and lost some time, but I kept on running. Again, Mark and the girls were at mile 9 1/2 and I wanted to stop and just stay with them! Mark was so encouraging yelling at me saying "you've got this, you are doing awesome." He was awesome! I gave the girls hugs and kisses and kept on going.
Once I hit mile 10 it was flat and downhill. That is when I noticed I was making great time and hoped to finish under 2:15. The last 3 miles were relatively easy. Although, I never ran past 11 miles in my training so it was still hard. I really hoped to push hard the last 1-2 miles knowing the end was near, but I was tired and really did not have any extra energy to push any harder than I was already.
Mark and the girls were at the finish line (as expected) but so were my parents! I was shocked and surprised. Seeing them gave me a huge burst of energy to make it to the finish line. Although I really wanted to sprint into the end, that was not happening. I was drained and tired but excited all at the same time!
I have a huge blister on my toe, and an aching back and legs, but a huge feeling of accomplishment. It is so empowering to train and complete a 1/2 marathon. I started training back in July when we got back from vacation and was up every Saturday morning before 6 to get my long runs done. I am glad I did it and I will do it again!
It was so cold after the race I am glad I had this metallic blanket that was handed out at the end.
My biggest fan!
Lauren hanging out, eating my banana.
Thanks Dad for taking a family picture. It is always fun to have a family picture at these events. I wish I would have gotten a picture with my parents, but I didn't.
If you remember I started running 16 months ago. I started with the couch potato to 5K in June of 2010. I have come a long way since then! Thank you everyone for your encouragement and words of support (and thank you Facebook for making that happen!)
