Half Marathon

On Saturday April 20th, 2011 I completed my first half marathon! I ran in the Thanksgiving Point Half Marathon race. My sister and my sister-in-law ran it with me too. We have been training for over 3 months and have run somewhere close to 210 miles. The race was cold but very rewarding once I crossed the finish line. 

I finished in 2:04:11

Carly finished in 1:55

Kerrie finished in 2:15

We all trained by ourselves since we live too far apart to train everyday together. I have also found that I don't mind running by myself. I like that I can go at my own pace and not worry if I am slowing someone down or stress about having to keep up with someone else. I run at my pace and it suits me just fine. Plus it gives me some "me time" and the endorphin buildup is a nice plus.

Before I started training I had never run more than a 10K (6 miles) and that was 2 years ago when I ran in the Desert Morning news 10K race. I used to listen to people who were avid runners and hear them say they ran 7+ plus that day. I would think, "there is no way I am ever putting my self through that". Well, I did. I have come to find out that I really love running. I knew I wanted to train for a race after I had Crew and I am glad my sisters jumped on board with me. 

A little recap of the race just so I can remember. 

Mile 1: freezing. We woke up to 4 inches of snow on the ground. It made for a cold start but we started at a good pace of 9:35/M. Took some ibuprofen and got my music in and I ran with Kerrie for the first mile.

Mile 2: my hands are finally starting to thaw and my body is warming up. Kerrie and I start running at different paces and we run separately for the rest of the race. 

Mile 3: nice and warm now. Ran up a no-fun-hill at the gardens but am still feeling good. The race crossed paths of runners behind us and I got to wave and say hi to my sister, sister-in-law, and my bishop and his wife. I noticed a runner holding a stick with a card which read "2:05 Goal" so I decided to stick with him. I was either in front or equal with him the rest of the race.

Mile 4: Feeling really good but I really warm with all my layers on. I took my jacket off and ran with it tied around my waist the rest of the time--somewhat annoying. Wish I had someone to throw them to.

Mile 5: crossed over from running in the Gardens (which by the way the tulips were covered in snow) to running in the golf course. The golf course had a ton of rolling hills. Lots up little ups and down. It was hard to keep a good momentum going.I was staring to get in a slum.

Mile 6: missed the mile marker the 6 so I made mile 5 feel really long but the when I got to mile 7 it was awesome because I was farther along than I expected. Miles 5-8 were the longest for me.

Mile 7: my hips were starting to ache so I took an Excedrin with caffeine and it ROCKED! Note: if you are running a race and you a boost just take an Excedrin. 

Mile 8: Saw a young boy walking and when I ran up to him and told him, "keep going, you can do it!" so we ran together for a few minutes. He was nine years old and this was his second half marathon. Wow. 

Mile 9: kept thinking only 4 mils to go. (Considered stopping to go to the port a potty but decided to just keep going--TMI).

Mile 10: My Excedrin kicked it and it was AWESOME! I got the best boost of energy. In fact when I got the mile 10 I cheered " ONLY THREE MILES TO GO!" I was feeling great. These women heard my cheer and commented that they wanted to run with my since I had all this energy to push them to keep going. However, we only lasted about 3 minutes before I passed them up.

Mile 11: I ran with the runner holding the pace card for the goal time of "2:05".

Mile 12: Feeling good. Wondering how close to the finish I was. Ditched my gloves after holding them since mile 5. I could sense that the finish was close but wasn't quite sure where it was. Looking back I wished I would have started myself into high gear sooner because I had a great kick of energy at the end and had I known could have ran faster for longer to get a better time. It felt really good to sprint at the end. 

Mile 13 Finish: I sprinted-as fast as my body would let me-to the finish and I saw my mom, dad, Crew, Adam, my sister-in-law who already finished, my mother-in-law, and father-in-law. It was Amazing.  Crossing the finish line has such a thrilling feeling and I had such a strong sense of accomplishment for completing my goal. It was one of the best feelings I have ever felt.

This race was so fun and I loved that I got to run it with my sister and SIL. The best part was seeing all my family at the finish line (and eating all the free food they have for us). This was one of the hardest goals I have set for myself but also one of the most rewarding.