Two days after race day and I am actually feeling good! I can't say I felt so hot during or for the few
hours following though.
Let me take you through race day.
5:45- I woke up feeling anxious as ever but excited!
7:00- Got to the mall and suddenly felt very
unprepared. People had their running
belts and hats on....some even had space blankets! I was in my school shirt and yoga pants!
7:30- Took pre-race pictures with friends to show I was
actually there
7:45- The race started but because I was in wave 6, I
waited!
8 something,- My wave was allowed to start
And now we take it to miles because with uncoordinated
people like me, I can’t run and check my watch clock at the same time!
Miles 1-4 were awful.
I saw some workers and got pumped for all of 5 seconds until I turned
the corner. When I saw Mile 4 I could
have cried, thinking I had more than 2/3 of the race left to go. That was also when my Pandora stopped working!
Miles 5-8 were a blur which was nice PLUS I got my Pandora
to work again! This was way better than
Option B (listening to the 6 songs I have on my iPhone on repeat) Yay!
Miles 9-10 I could see the finish line but my knees had a
different agenda. They were dead set on
keeping me from the finish line.
Miles 11-13- I saw my coworkers once more which did give me
more energy because I could celebrate with them that I was almost done. At this point I was on the verge of tears
because my left knee hurt so bad!
Mile 13.1 I ran through the finish line at 2 hours 38
minutes. The first thought in my head
was, “Nope, I did better than that,” and then, “Yes! I did better than that!” (The clock tracks the time of the first wave
and I was in wave 6). My official time...2 hours 18 minutes, average time per mile 10:35. I will take it for my first half!
The time after I finished was all a blur! I met up with a friend, took pictures to show
I actually survived and went home!
From there, I wish I could say I felt good, relaxed a little
bit and had a productive rest of my day but I would be lying. Instead, I was sick for the next 5 hours
after and had to take a 2 hour nap!
After I recouped, I was able to eat and get out a bit before I returned
home to get a very restful sleep!
Would I change anything about this experience? My answer would definitely be, yes! I would train harder so my body would
actually know what it felt like to run past 6 miles. (Definitely the explanation for my knees
hurting). I would also like to get on a
better nutrition plan (and hopefully not feel so sick later)! But after all of the heck I put my body
through, I wouldn’t take back this experience for anything. I had a blast and
can’t wait to start training for another half marathon!
P.S. If you were out there cheering the runners on, I want
to say a huge, THANK YOU! I didn’t think someone’s cheering or sign would be
able to make such a difference but they definitely made me laugh along the
way. Some are inappropriate but here are
a few
-“Go random stranger!”
-“Run now, poop later.”
-“Smile if you’re not wearing underwear!”
