So it's been over a week since I finished my first half marathon. I'm not sure what has held me back from writing about the experience because it was awesome. I think maybe I have just been trying to come up with the right things to say to explain how happy I was and am and maybe I just need to start writing and stop thinking.
So here is the story of my first 1/2 marathon:
We attended a wedding the night before the half which was also in Syracuse. We spent the evening socializing, carb loading, and drinking pitchers of water. Fun! I danced, which I was not sure would be a good idea. I had some pain in my right TFL (top of the IT band) again and I didn't want to aggravate it. When we got back to the hotel I rolled out my legs really well and especially the pain in my hip. When I went to bed my hip felt pretty great actually, so maybe the dancing and foam roller was a beneficial pre-race activity!
Here I am in the hotel before leaving for the race (in reverse b/c I took the photo in the mirror). The weather was MUCH cooler than I had anticipated. Mid-40s at the beginning and Windy! I had not packed a long sleeve shirt so I wore the race shirt. Thankfully it fit and was very comfortable.
We arrived at the race with no problems and in time to sit in the car and enjoy the heat on high for a few minutes and then stand in line for 20 minutes for a last minute bathroom break. Below is a photo Tom snapped of me right before we started running. I'm so cold but excited!
After the gun, Tom quickly faded into the crowd (he's so fast!) and I focused on finding people to try and keep up with. We ran down city streets and to highways that led us to the Onondaga Lake Park trails. While the view was very pretty along the water, here we began our encounter with one of those mysteries of nature where you are somehow able to run into the wind in both directions of an out-and-back race course. The miles passed away quite well. I carried pretzel sticks, honey stinger chews, and two bottles of orange flavored Nuun on my person and munched on pretzels every so often. I stopped frequently to get sips of water and drank my Nuun.
After the first few miles my splits got slower. I started with a 10 min/mile pace (mistake) and slowed to 10:30 and couldn't keep that up so I slowed to 11:00. My plan was to try and turn it on when I had 4.5 miles left to go. So with anticipation and trepidation I put in my time waiting for the 8-9 mile point of the race.
The male leader returned when I was at mile marker 4 (phew, so fast!)
I watched and watched for the return of Tom. Eventually I saw him, screamed his name and we slapped a solid high five. I kept dreaming that the turn around must be right around the next bend, but of course 6.55 miles is pretty far. I was ever so glad that I did not have to turn off onto the full course when I passed the fork in the road that led me to the left and marathoners to the right (they had a 30 minute earlier gun time than the half peeps).
At mile marker 8, I decided to try one of the Accel chocolate gels they were handing out. I was feeling pretty beat. I would not normally feel so ready to try something new on a long run, but I had taken Imodium after breakfast to try and quell any "issues". The gel went down really well. It was very much like taking a swig of Hershey's Chocolate Syrup.
Somewhere around here the male marathon leader passed me! He was thin with long hair and man was he booking! He looked happy and focused. Everyone cheered and you could hear the cheering move down the runners he passed like a "wave" in a football stadium.
Back to me. I felt pretty great after the gel at least until after mile 10, where I really felt OUT OF GAS. This is the point where the race became grueling. This is where my mind kicked in and kept me putting one foot in front of the other. I just kept telling myself that the fastest way back to the car was to keep running -as quickly as physically possible! The great running quote that this came from is:
"The best way out is always through" -Robert Frost
This is also where the dark thoughts and inner pleading dialog started. A sampling of my thoughts follow:
"What was I thinking signing up for a 1/2 marathon?"
"I will NEVER be able to run a full marathon"
"I'm going to have to end my blog because I'm NEVER running EVER again!"
"Dear God, please, please, please, help me have the strength to keep running"
"I HAVE to beat my goal of 2:30 -Keep running!!!"
I trudged and trudged those last few miles. I even found deep strength to pick up my pace for the last mile and to pick it up even faster for the last quarter. I passed the finish at 2:26! YAY I beat my goal of 2:30! My average pace was 11:05! WOW That's 30 seconds faster than I used to run 1 mile! When I stopped running I found that I was completely physically exhausted. I had poor mental focus and getting my finisher medal and picking up post-race food and finding Tom are a pretty big blur. Once we found each other we decided to go right back to the car and head home. I could barely walk. It was a pretty good hobble to the car. We drove to Watertown and got some Wendy's. I felt pretty weird and exhausted for the rest of the day. It was great to see the kids again. It was my first night away from baby Darren. We had a huge pizza dinner at 4 :)
Props to my amazing husband who took running by the reins when I asked him to do the half with me. My dreams of beating him in a race may never come true. He finished in 1:50!!!!! Over 35 minutes faster than me. I'm amazed and proud.
That's it for now. We're already formulating plans for a Spring marathon and I'm starting Insanity today... I'll let you know how that is going soon! Thank you all for reading! Happy Monday!
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