The Hottest Half

I promised a race recap and ohh baby did you come to the right spot if you want to hear about running. If not, please check back tomorrow when I will begin spouting off about my fabulous new running capris (!), new home decor and the major dent in my wallet.

Even though we have no disposable income. Awesome.

So, months ago when lil SP decided she'd hop back on the running bandwagon, we figured a half marathon maybe 8 months out would be possible. But, this also gave me plenty of time to back out.

I woke up on Saturday to a headcold (of course I did) and after shopping till I dropped (literally) I spent some sweet time with TheraFlu and Zicam (which, by the way, the oral spray sucks-I want the nasal stuff back, I don't care if I can't smell!), and went to bed early hoping to heavens I would feel better in the morning.

I wasn't that nervous or anything when we got to the race site, I was more excited than anything--I was finally here. My first half marathon. I mean, that's really something.

I had mixed feelings about the course from the get go, and let me tell you, they weren't unfounded. I also didn't get a chance to set my Garmin for a pace alert (which I usually do!) so, I did run it a little slower than I wanted to, but, considering I'm still coming off injury, was battling a cold, I figured it best not to push too hard and really just enjoy the race as best I could.

The weather was perfect but the course was all sorts of wonky--we started facing south, to which we ran about 1 mile down to a turn around point, then back to the north end of the lake, headed west, then back down south the way we came and turned back around to finish uphill.

We passed the finish line twice. If that's not emotional trickery, then I don't know what is!

The first couple of miles were pretty torturous because I knew we were just going to have to turn around and pass the damn start (and finish) line. Once we got through there, I started trying to break it down into increments about "just think of this as the downhill stretch and like you're running home" (since I have many a time run home from this point).

At mile 5 I reminded myself that there were 8 miles left and to think of it as a nice long 8 milers--easy does it.

I really didn't have any issues until we got to mile 10, then it was a game of "only 3 miles left! Think of this as the turn around point on your training runs with the group" and other lovely mind tricks.

I stopped to walk for a second and managed to fix my Garmin which really helped me finish strong. At mile 11 we were passing the finish line (ugh!) and the course zigged and zagged, so, I could see those who were ahead of me finishing up--and could see the turn around point! Success! I took water at the next two stations (and am now pro at the run and sip, thankyouverymuch).

At the 20k mark my legs were exhausted, I was exhausted and totally 100% over it. That's when as I was zigging, my pace leader from my marathon group was zagging, she saw me walking and yelled at me that I was almost done and to finish strong. I gleefully hollered back to her and picked it up (thank you Genevieve!), running to the 13 mile marker and getting my iPod ready to finish.

I always finish my races to Bombs over Baghdad by Outkast--no idea why, but, it's like my thing, so, I had to find it on my playlist and crank it. I blasted it for maybe 20 seconds and then turned it off.

The course was relatively spectator free (boo!), but at this point (uphill finish) there were people cheering the whole way and I wanted to kind of savor the moment if you will. I mean, hell, I'd worked hard to get here, I wanted to really remember it.

As the finishers approached the line, the announcers called us out by name as we finished, which was so freaking cool. I got my finishers medal (from a Boy Scout!) grabbed a bottle of water and collapsed against someones truck!

When the hubs finally found me, I believe my exact words were "I don't like half marathons. Not one bit. I think 15ks are my races."

I grabbed a waaay under ripe banana and stretched and cooled down for a bit before we headed home (note: I finished ahead of my pace leader by several minutes--I would feel pretty cool, but, I took Saturday as a rest day and didn't run, and you can bet she ran on Saturday--overachiever!).

I didn't feel any sense of awesomeness or anything, I mean, it wasn't my "best" race, I didn't feel all inspired or anything. However, once I got home and it all sank it, I kind of turned into a blubbering mess. I mean, I finished a half marathon!

Something I never thought I could do just 8 months ago. And here I am. I did it. It was fabulous. I can't wait to do it again.

Y'all, I've been battling my weight and feeling fat for months now (WW is just too hard when I average 30 miles a week!), and can I tell you that on Sunday I felt amazing? I felt fit and strong and happy--even if I've gained all my weight back. So, thank you running.

And you can bet that tonight I'm signing up for my next half marathon. Which I'm wildly excited about because it will be in a different town, which means, yay! new scenery--I swear, if I have to run that exact course again, I will scream. It was really, really psychologically intense.

Now, if you've made it through that, you deserve some pictures.

Pre-race smiley self portrait.

Ready to run

Channeling my inner Phoebe Buffay running skills at mile 10 (ish). (I can't believe I posted that picture)

Crossing the finish line

And done!

Proudly showing off my bling.

Me and the hubs.

So, I did it.

13.1 miles down (500 billion to go, I'm sure).

I wasn't that sore--until today! Bleh! My calf muscle is majorly acting up again and I got out of my car at the gym and hobbled 10 feet, turned around and went home a blubbering mess.

I realize I could have just hopped on the bike or something, but, I am nothing if not dramatic.

So, we'll see if I can pound out some miles at lunch. Let's hope, because, seriously--I need to run!

The marathon is getting closer by the hour (ahh, stress!).