1/2 Marathon Race recap

Well this is it. The day after. The day after reaching one of my biggest running goals to date. I am not dead, so to me that is a huge success. Here is my race recap of the St Luke's Half Marathon. I arrived at Jennie's house at 6:20 and waited for Bob to arrive. We were all going together, which helped settle my nerves a little bit because I didn't have to worry about driving after the race, nor did I have to worry about where to Park. After finding parking (I think they need to do a better job with the parking, IMHO) we walked to William Allen High School. We arrived there at 7ish and there were already lines for the port-a-potties, and all of the available in school bathrooms had lines. (Glad I went before we got there). Anyway, we walked into the gym and met up with the rest of the BCRs and talked and got pep talks and what not. At this point I think I was still in disbelief that I was getting ready to run a half marathon. Anyway, a little after 7 I think, I met up with Sarah who was going to pace me to complete this half. I won the opportunity to run with Sarah as a part of her 12x12 project. Anyway, it was at this moment, that it hit me. That I was going to be running and completing a half marathon! By 745 they had the 5K runners moving to their starting positions and by 750 they were getting us ready to run. It was a gorgeous day! I couldn't have asked for nicer weather. The sun was shining, there was not a cloud in the sky, it was maybe 45 degrees at this point. As we were walking onto Linden St, the sights, the people, the energy was amazing! I just tried to absorb every moment of it. It was at this time when I said, I guess I can't say my first half anymore,  unless I am talking about this one. As it was getting close to go time, everyone was getting charged up. Then it was go! Because I am so short, I couldn't see the Start sign...as we moved closer I saw huge of a sign it really was. The people in front of me were hitting it, kind of like the play like a champion today sign that ND football players hit as they leave the locker room. I didn't do that. I was too focused on hitting start on my Garmin. I told Sarah that I didn't get my garmin to start right away, she told me not to worry about that, that she would take care of that. Once we got out of the shade by the high school, we began our run in the sun. People lined up on both sides of the street, with signs...cheering everyone on. We got to the stadium where we would end our race, and the 5K racers were finishing. The drums that they had right by the stadium was AWESOME!!! The hill, not so much :( Anyway, not going to worry about that anyway. This was the first time I was EVER running without music, but I didn't want to miss out on the energy, the emotions, the whole half marathon experience. I am glad I did not have my music. Having a live band every mile was awesome, and since none of the music was the same, it really motivated you to enjoy the moment. I remember Chris running past me and motivating me by telling me "you're not last! There are a lot of people behind you" Of course, he was only telling me this because I had told him that was one of my fears, finishing last.

 I don't remember seeing a mile marker before mile 3, but I knew we were at mile 4 by the pain my IT band was giving me. I didn't care! I knew I had trained for this, and a little pain is nothing compared to the utter disappointment if I didn't finish the race. A little before mile 6, give or take at Yocco's hot dogs I saw Bob's friendly face and made sure to give him a high 5! A mile 6 the soles of my feet started to hurt, just like they did for the 10K, but I knew I could push through it. At 7 miles I knew that this was the furthest I had ever raced and started to feel proud. At mile 8 I got teary eyed because it hit me that I was going to finish.  The hills were starting to bother me more and more, so I did have to walk some of them. Not proud of it, but not finishing was not an option! I don't think I even looked at my Garmin until mile 11, there was no need. I probably could have run without it, but it's my security blanket. Anyway, mile 12.5, I started to get teary eyed again because I KNEW I was going to finish it. At this point, I didn't care what my time was, I just wanted to finish it. I never saw the Garmin Pacer the entire race, but again, I didn't need them I had Sarah, but whatevs. As we were on the home stretch, I heard those drums, and I got pumped up. But alas, one MORE FREAKIN HILL! How cruel can you be. Slowly I dredged up that last hill, and onto the track.

I will save the rest of this for a blog for tomorrow....