Half Marathon Recap

and… *exhale*

It’s over. 13.1 miles. I crossed the finish line for my first half marathon!

Mary Ann, Amber and I met Holli at the Kentucky Horse Park around 7:15am. I saw Krissie and Nathan briefly as I made my way to the restroom before the start. I am anti-porta potties, so I was trying to take advantage of the indoor restrooms. While waiting in line, someone who just started reading the blog said hello, and that was great! Helped get me a little more excited.

Mary Ann, Amber, me, Holli. And this is totally random, but look how supported my "girls" look in my ENELL Sport Bra! Seriously, it was almost as important as my awesome training partners.

The race started, and we trotted away on the 13.1 mile journey. The weather was beautiful.

Miles 1-4 were easy-peasy. I felt great, my legs were moving well, I had minimal foot pain.

Me and Holli

Mary Ann and Amber

We started out with Amber chasing me with a stick.

Miles 5-8 were good, and the wonderful people who were coming back the other way (it was an out and back course), were so encouraging! It really was just cheers of “great job!” and “keep going!” from both ways – us to them and they to us. It was really a wonderful environment! We saw Nathan and Sarah on their way back, and shortly after, saw Krissie. It was great to see friends throughout the course!

I guess the stick wasn’t working with Amber, so she brought in reinforcements:

We had a police tailing us from about mile 5 all the way to the finish. They had opened up some traffic on the roads, so we had some protection. The policeman behind us was really nice. He used his speaker to ask Amber if she wanted him to take her jacket and if I wanted him to take my iPod, which was bothering my arm. Seriously, he was so nice and encouraging. Although I hope it’s the only time in the life that I’m chased by a cop

When we hit mile 8, I hit a complete wall.

My feet were really hurting. My arch on the left foot was killing me. Around mile 9, both of my inside ankles were hurting. Each mile felt like it was 3 miles. My pace slowed considerably. I was really NOT enjoying myself. I tried listening to music. I tried thinking about my mom, and the money that was raised. I have to say, it was good having that extra motivation, because the pain was bad. My legs weren’t tired. My muscles weren’t fatigued. My feet and ankles were just giving me major pain.

Can I tell you how freaking glad I was to see the finish line?

It's freaking OVER!

My official time was 4 hours, 27 seconds. Not that it matters. I’m a half-marathoner!

So yay! I must say that I didn’t get the euphoric post-race high. I was freaking glad it was over. This distance, while great, just isn’t for me with my feet issues and schedule. The training is time-intensive, and I do not want to deal with my arches and ankles in pain for a while. Perhaps I’ll do another one in another 100 pounds, but I think I should stick to my enjoyable gym routine

Thank you for the tweets, Facebook messages and emails. I’m so incredibly thankful for the support (and thanks to ENELL for a different type of physical “support” LOL)  And thank you again to my WONDERFUL race partners, Amber, Holli and Mary Ann. xoxo.