Operation: Half Marathon!

So I did it on Saturday September 22nd 2012 I ran my first Half Marathon! It was the Roots n Blues n BBQ Half Marathon in Colombia, MO on the MIZZOU campus.

{After the Race with my metal}

The actual race was amazing and I will give you all the juicy details, but that is not where the journey started. It all started 10 weeks before the race when Tawny called me and said some ladies in the ward have been running together and training for a half marathon and she thought that I may be interested it training with them. I was interested,  maybe even a little intimated some of them had been training for months and I had never run anything close to 13.1 miles.  She said they run together on saturdays for  the "long runs" at 6:00am and she would send me a running schedule, so I told her I would think about it. Well a whole week went by and I though about it a lot, but did not run a single mile. Friday night rolled around and it was decision time was I going to get up at 5:30am to go running? They were only running 5 miles that morning so I decided to just give it a try. I thought I was going to DIE! I keep up with them (barely) for the 5 miles and felt dead tired after. That night I sat on the couch with an ice pack on each knee looking at the running schedule with the miles I needed to run each week to be prepared and decided I was going to do it no matter how hard it would be!! So there I was 9 weeks from race day it was time to get moving and that is exactly what I did. I ran 4 days a week M, TU, TH and SAT. During the week it was impossible for me to get up before work to go running, I already get up at 5:30am so all my runs had to be after work, meetings, church, and errands. Some times I didn't get home until 11:00 or 12:00 at night from running.  Every saturday morning we would meet at a park at 6:00am to do our "long runs" we increased a mile every saturday until 12 miles a week before the race. It was nice on the weekends to run with friends and know that we were all working hard for the same thing.  That helped get me through some of the weekdays. Although I HATED getting out of bed on a saturday morning (because most of the time I was up WAY to late on friday night) it was so beautiful to see the sun rise and feel the cool morning air. I ran in all conditions 105* heat, rain, the air conditioned gym on the treadmill, and toward the end, even 50* mornings. I saw lots of people come and go at the gym, trails, sidewalks, sun rises and sun sets.  Eric would often call me Forest Gump and in a way I actually did start to feel like him. Ice packs, stretching, biofreeze, and my miracle worker chiropractor (Eric) were my best friends.  About 4 weeks into my training I got a cold and it was miserable it turned into a horrible cough that I still have! Then about 7 weeks in I pulled a muscle in my hip and that did not feel so good either.  I toughed  it out and ran through it all. Overall I ran over 200 miles in 9 weeks!!

 The day before the race I was so nervous and anxious thinking about all the possible scenarios (good and bad) that may arise in the race. I started to calm down when I met up with the ladies to drive down to Colombia.  It was then I started to get excited. We met everyone (some went down earlier that day) at Olive Garden for a great dinner. There were 13 of us all together (including 2 husbands). When we got there they had out packets (they had picked up for us earlier that day) laid out and ready for us. I almost got emotional holding the racing bib in my hands thinking of all the hard work that I had put in. I was able to hold it together though, so don't worry. After eating, visiting, lots of laughing, and talking about race day, 2 hours had past and we left the restaurant only to continue at the hotel room. We had some GREAT girl time, everyone painted their nails pink and we got our cloths laid out for the next day. It was then time to go to sleep, the room was silent but no one could fall asleep. Our minds "raced" in anticipation for the "race day".

The morning came and we got our things together and headed out for the corse. It was cold and in the forties. We got some pictures and started warming up the best we could. At 7:00am, it was time to start. We muscled our way through the crowd of people to get where we wanted to start.

The first 3 miles were awesome! Although we had to start the race running up a hill that was  brick/cobblestone and all the people running up at the same time some how made it easier to run. We watched as the sun came over the horizon  and although you could still see your breath you could start to feel the warm rays of sun hitting your face. There were some that were long gone but at this distance it seemed that the runners were still somewhat packed together,  you could see lots of people in front and back of you that is an exciting feeling. I started to feel my body working, my muscles flexing with every stride, my heart beating and my lungs taking larger breaths of air. I often started to feel this phenomenon a few miles into a run and it made me so thankful for my body and its ability to have things that work together.

I kept up with some of the ladies for the first 5.5 miles running 2 miles/min faster than my normal pace until my knee started to feel it and I knew I had to back off a little. So I slowed up some, still running a min over normal speed.

At mile 6 I smiled and laughed to myself.  Before training 6.2 miles or a 10K was the furthest I had EVER run and that was back in high school. I was half way and felling great!!

Mile 7 there was a sweet surprise, Eric was there cheering me on! He had a Gatorade drink to give me a boost.  I was in a good running groove and didn't want to stop so he ran with me for a second while I took a drink I gave him a quick kiss and said "see you at the finish line!".

 Miles 8 and 9 were great!  It was mostly trails that were somewhat flat which was nice.

Mile 10 my cold/cough cought up with me and I started coughing like crazy! I am pretty sure that I hacked up part of my lungs and left them there.

Miles 11-12 it started into the neighborhood and the hills. There was a sign that someone put up that said "someday you will not be able to do this, but today is not that day" that made me smile knowing that it was true and I was able to rise to the challenge today.  So I gave my self a little pep talk ya know, "you can do it"! I thought of all the family and friends who supported me all along and pushed for the finish line.

I hit mile 13 and rounded the corner and heard all my friends and Eric cheering, clapping and waving for me! I then sprinted across the finish line!!!! It was emotional knowing that I accomplished the goal that I made for myself and had so much support. My official chip time was 2:47. It was faster than I thought I would do, so I was happy with that.
                                                 

   {This is my "Rocky" pose}                                                     {Sprint to the end}

After I meet up with my friends and Eric, and we ate some BBQ. I though that I would not eat anything after for a while, but my southern blood was still pumping and I could not turn down BBQ. It was an amazing experience!

{Yumm}

   

 {The whole gang from L to R 9 (top) Natile, April, Jessica C., Davina, Rachel, Leia, ME, Charity

 ( bottom) Meghan, Tawny and Karissa}

So you ask if I would do it again? I would answer.... Absolutely! I now have a time that I need to beat.

{My biggest  fan!!}