13.1 ~ Done!

Well, we did it! My first half marathon is officially under my belt! It was cold – 27 degree wind chill – and windy. The race had its fair share of hills, and then some! But we did it! What an amazing feeling! Tim ran with me the entire time, and I can’t begin to explain how that encouraged me along the way. I wish I could recount mile by mile how I felt, what I was thinking, etc., but it all kind of runs together now. Here’s what I do remember:

The first 3 miles were a breeze. We were prepared for the cold weather with my Nike fleece head band covering my ears, my long sleeve top, long dry wick pants, gloves, the works! Tim had his cold gear on, too, head to toe. So it felt good to start running; honestly, my lungs never bothered me. That was one thing I was worried about was the cold air in my lungs, but it wasn’t ever an issue!

After the novelty of running wore off, there were hills to be conquered! Lots of hills! And I’ll be the first to admit hills are my weakness! They always beat me! I must pat myself on the back and say I did better on these hills than I’ve ever done before. It’s all in the glutes, I say. Push with your butt, not your knees! It’s workin’ for me!!

By mile 7ish, we were at Turner Field. That was pretty fun and pretty easy to run around. Tim has always wanted to run under the Olympic rings that are at the entrance, and we did! He even said, “I know I’m a nerd, but I’ve always wanted to run under those!” when we were heading that way. I told him he was about to have his chance!

Mile 8 brought more water and Gatorade and some protein chews that helped a lot! But after that, I struggled. Miles 9, 10, and 11 were just flat out boring. You know you’re on the downhill slide to being finished, but you also know you’ve got 4 miles left to run. Prior to the race, I’d collected all these warm fuzzy running quotes and sent them out to Tim and our friends who also ran. You know, things like, “All it takes is all you got!” and “Learn to run when feeling the pain: then push harder.” Well, the only quote I could think of was “run like hell and get it over with!” I know, right? Forget the warm fuzzy thoughts. Just get it done! But it worked!

Our time was 2 hours 44 minutes. I’d loved to have done it in 2:30, but that’s just not realistic given my current running pace. When I was honest with myself, I was hoping to do it in less than 2:45, and I did! The cool thing about running in a big race like this was that as we crossed the finish line, they announced our names over this loud speaker! Crazy! I am still amazed at that!! Here we are with our friends, David and Lisa Lee, shortly after we finished!

So, it’s over, said and done. We’re sore but not terribly sore. I’m 3 pounds lighter than I was Friday, and I was stoked about that until a friend informed me that’s not good; it’s severe dehydration!?!!? Nevertheless, we’re proud! We did it! I honestly can’t believe it! The most amazing part of all? We weren’t even out of the Zooma parking lot before we were all talking about our next half marathon. . . . ah, the running bug has bitten us good!