I did something pretty cool!

  This past Saturday I did something pretty cool. Pretty awesome actually if I do say so myself. I RAN MY FIRST HALF MARATHON!!!!  I didn't run the whole thing, but that wasn't my goal. We have been doing interval training because we are training for the Dopey Challenge in January and we just don't think that it's realistic to try to run a full marathon the day after we run a half marathon. Anywhoo, back to what I have done, enough about what I am going to do.

    We have logged the miles, we have done the training, I knew I could do it. Ashley set the goal of finishing in 3 hours. I told myself that if I could just keep up with Ashley that I would be fine. I set some goals for myself, I would not say the words "I can't" and I would not make excuses. One thing I have learned is that running is mostly mental. I know that my legs can carry me the distance, it's what they are meant to do. I have never done 13.1 miles before, but I knew that I could.

    I set my alarm and laid out my clothes and gear the night before. I was loading up on water because I know how important it is to be hydrated. When I woke up my stomach was not being kind to me. I was nervous which was to be expected. Here is where I made my first mistake, I didn't eat anything. I thought, oh it's only a couple hours it will be fine, my stomach doesn't feel great  I don't want to make it worse. When my alarm went off I got up, got dressed and sat down for a second to gather my thoughts. I thought about what I was going to do. It didn't seem like that big of a deal, we were scheduled for a 13 mile run for our training anyway which is why we decided to sign up for the half. Why not do our training and get a shiny medal for it?  After I gathered my thoughts I grabbed a bottle of water and headed out the door to pick Ashley up. I was pretty glad that the run was only 10 minutes from home.

    We had picked up our packets and bib numbers the night before so we didn't have to check in, we just had to wait for the start. It was 70 degrees, humid, and foggy when we started. I really liked the energy of this run. The event announcers were energetic and they had music playing. I could just feel an energy from the other runners. We started off strong. Ashley had our intervals planned out, we both feel a lot better when we have a plan. The first couple of miles went by pretty easily. That's honestly something I thought I would never say.


This is so very true for me. I remember not long ago when I dreaded a 5k. It was feel like it was never going to end and afterwards I was beat for hours. I wouldn't want to do anything for the rest of the day. Now, here I was 5 miles into a half marathon still feeling pretty good. Who is this person? Not long ago I never would have given a half marathon a thought. It wasn't on my radar.

The bridge in this picture was surrounded by trees and was absolutely beautiful. Shortly after this picture we had to walk for a bit because my heart started pounding in a way that I knew was not good. No worries, stupid me, I just forgot to breathe for a bit. Yeah I know, keep breathing duh! I got distracted. Of all the running picture I have, this has to be one of my favorite, we have never done a run together before. Usually Ashley is gone out of my sight within the first few minutes, and we meet up at the finish for our post race selfie. So this picture to me means progress. I'm not stupid, I know Ashley was going slower than she needed to on my account, and believe me, I appreciated it. I am overweight by a lot, it's just not logical for me to think that I can run at her pace, so I am  so thankful she cut it back for me.

   At some  in there I made mistake number 2. At the water stop I chose water. It seemed like the right choice, water is great for you, right and wrong. My stomach started to hurt. I was sweating like a lot so I decided to grab Gatorade at the next stop. Ding ding ding, turns out the Gatorade didn't hurt my stomach. Lesson learned for next time.

   Things started to get harder and harder. I was getting worn out and it was getting harder and harder to keep up with Ashley. She still looked all great and fresh and what not, and I was beat. I also had to pee. This is something I hope to never have to do again during a run. Three words, SWEATY  TOILET PAPER. I don't think I need to elaborate on that one.

    I made it to mile 8 with Ashley. It's like we have some unspoken connection because she sped up her pace a bit and I was on my own. No, I didn't feel abandoned or hurt or offended. I have come a long way in my journey and I no longer feel like I used to. I have accepted myself and the fact that I cannot do the same things that she can do. I aspire to one day be as awesome as she is, however at my size it is ridiculous to think that I can run at her pace as long as she can, and I am ok with that. I just need to do the best that I can do for me. If I can finish knowing that I pushed myself then I consider that a success. After Ashley went ahead I slowed down my pace  some to something that was more comfortable for me. I had this lightheaded feeling that I'm sure was mostly due to the fact that I had not eaten since supper the night before. My body felt surprisingly great though. My legs weren't that sore, not even close to what I expected, which means my training is paying off.

   As I got farther and farther I started to feel weaker and weaker. Two people went by me and checked to make sure I was ok, the course staff had pulled several people off due to dehydration. Even though I was feeling very weak, I did not stop. I just kept moving. Between mile 11 and 12 I was feeling like maybe I wouldn't be able to finish. I started to get little black spots in my vision and I think I was probably dehydrated. There was a lot more getting sweated out than there was going in. I knew there should be a water stop coming up so it would be ok. As I came over a small hill and saw the water stop table my heard sunk. The table was empty. I could see the water canisters sitting on the ground. If I couldn't get water or Gatorade then I really didn't know if I could finish. This could be it, 12 miles in and I may have to call it quits. I was crushed and my eyes started to well with tears. When I got to the table, I could see cups still there and I was so happy! There was only water left which I knew was going to hurt my stomach, but it didn't matter. I needed liquids. I did pause for a second and I drank 4 of the water cups. Which was probably only about 1 full cup since each one was only about 2 swallows. Then I continued on my way. Renewed in my faith that I was going to finish.

    My gps said I was farther than the course said that I was so I am not sure if it was off a bit because of the fog or if the course distance was off and the course was actually longer than 13.1 miles. Anyway, I stopped my gps at 13.1 miles because that's the time that I wanted then I kept going. I came around the final corner and I could hear the music and I knew I was going to finish. It also helped that Ashley was sending me some encouraging texts.  The announcer was  cheering me across the finish line, and also I wasn't last, and then it was over. I crossed the finish line and the girl handed me my finisher's medal and I felt proud. I didn't have the fastest time, not even close, but I finished. I never once said the words "I can't" and I didn't make excuses. I just kept pushing myself until the end. I'm not going to lie, I almost started crying. (I'm an emotional one can you tell?)

This is by far my best finish line picture ever! Usually my face is all twisted and I look like, well, like not good at all. It's bad I'm not even kidding.

And of course, our post race selfies! I honestly can't believe how "normal" I look considering  the feat that I just accomplished.

   So all in all, I did what I set out to do, I feel very proud and look forward to much more.