I RAN a Half Marathon!

Me just before the start of the race

My crazy OCD self with all my stuff set out the night before

 

It all started over a year ago when I did my first 5k in Lake Havasu City when I decided that it would be "fun" to run a half marathon.  Well, it's official on April 14, 2012 I finished my first half marathon!  I finished in 2 hours 40 minutes and 58 seconds, 444th out of 500 in the Havasu Half Marathon.  I ran the whole time, minus a couple porta-potty breaks (nearly 3 hours is a LONG time).  


I am a slow turtle, so I was in with the run/walkers.  Whenever they would walk I'd pass them and whenever they would run they'd pass me, and it kept like that until about mile 11 when I finally passed them! The course was an out and back and the best part about that were all the awesome women that provided encouragement and high fives to me on my way out, and which I was able to return on the way back.  Somewhere after mile 10 I lost my bib, which was a pretty big deal because it had my chip on it, and without the chip I would be a DNF (did not finish).  I was trying not to freak out shortly after I discovered it was gone, then all of a sudden I heard an angel yell my name I turned around and she gave me my bib and then was instantly gone before I could thank her.  I have no idea where she came from or where she went, but my only explanation is that it was a true angel!  It was also around that time that my body wasn't feeling the greatest and wasn't so sure that I wanted to finish the half marathon, but I got my motivation back and the push I needed to finish.  


I saw lots of people looking kind of green after the race, but I felt fantastic.  I got my beer and medal and then went back to the hotel as it was freakishly cold and windy in Lake Havasu.  I don't usually eat beef or hamburgers, but later that afternoon I had my first burger in 2 years from In-N-Out that hit the spot.  I probably won't ever do a full marathon, but I may do another half.

Cory and I after our races, still looking and feeling great!

I'm going to run a Half Marathon?!?

Last year in April I ran my first 5k race in Lake Havasu City.  I have to admit that I was a little jealous of all the half marathoners running over the London Bridge.  I then completed my first triathlon last August and finally decided in December that I would sign up for the half marathon in Lake Havasu City this year.

I am exactly a month away from the half marathon and am doing fairly well in my training.  I try to run 3 times a week, with 1 long run a week.  My last long run was 10 miles.  According to running coaches your longest training run only needs to be 7 miles, however I felt a little skeptical about that and want to make sure I won't die, so I have gone a little beyond that distance in my training.  I have found that I really enjoy the distance between 3 and 5 miles, however I realized that anything over 5 miles becomes uncomfortable.  My first attempt at an 8 mile run did not go well for me. I did everything I absolutely could to get to 7.65 miles, but I could not go an inch further, it was then I decided that I am absolutely crazy for ever deciding that a half marathon was a good idea.  My 9 and 10 mile runs have proven to be better than that silly 7.65 mile run, but still running for over 2 hours continuously is just a little bit nuts.