Victory!

I finished the Woodlands Half Marathon in 3:36! I had planned for 3:45, but I did a litte better than I had thought. I was so happy that the weather was nice and overcast for the majority of the race, however, it did rain on us for about 10 minutes, but it was light.

Yesterday I woke up at 4:15am to get ready for the race because our coach wanted us out there by 5:30 for a group picture (didn't happen). I rolled out of bed and ate a piece of toast with peanut butter (the LDS peanut butter I might add because it was delicous) and made sure I had plenty of water in my system. On the way to the tent, I ate a banana to make sure I was good and energized. I got there and met my fellow runners, Leah, and the coach at the tent and it was super windy! Poor Kat was stuck at EcoBot with her students. We went out for our warm-up and did some light yoga stretching. Soon after we all went to do our own thing like run back, go to the bathroom, pin on our numbers, etc. Then a few of us got into a group picture and it was pretty cute.

Finally, it was time to run! Well, I heard no announcement of when the race had actually started, they just had us run out there and that was that. I was off and dummy me took off too fast because I had that racer's momentum at the beginning. I actually had two PRs that day and the first one was my fastest race mile: a 13:22. This was an accident and I was mad at myself because this was nowhere near my pace and I would pay for it soon. Sure enough, I did. I found a few people to pace myself with and I felt a lot better. Leah found me around mile 2 and ran with me for a few minutes. It was really nice to have her out there despite her foot hurting. After that, the village cheer section gave us some leis and I ran with it the rest of the way.

I found a random pace buddy for about 4-5 miles of the race and she was really sweet. I need to find her on facebook or something. We ran together for a bit and talked which was really nice and it got my mind off of the miles. Then Leah found me again between miles 6 and 7 and ran about a half mile with me. At this point I was feeling great and was happy to be out there. I unfortunately lost my friend, but I had to remember that running is an individual sport. I had to kick my own ass at this point. The water and gel stops were nice and there was a random oreo spot. Some kids even tried to run with me and they were kind of annoying. I think I was the only honest person running/walking towards then end because I was telling cops and water people that "this sucks" and "what the F*** was I thinking". They all were laughing when I said that.

Then there came those last few miles. I hated myself for the last 4-5 miles of the race. I realized that 10 miles is fine....13.1 is an evil bitch from hell. This being said, I had to find it in myself to keep going. Full marathoners were passing me left and right, but I still had to go on. I wasn't the last halfer by any stretch, but I felt tired and really really really slow. That last quarter mile, my coach and Leah found me and ran me in. It was a great feeling to have them there and to run in the rest of the race. My friend Malorie was there as well to take pictures. Too bad I look like hell in them, but It was done!

No matter what anyone says, no matter how fat or out of shape I feel, I know that I finished this race and wasn't last either. I finished 9 minutes before I thought I would and I was 24 minutes faster than when I walked a half-marathon. I did what most people who were watching, sitting at home, or wherever have never and will never do. This makes me proud.

I am not done with my running journals, because I have much more to do. My coach is starting speed training in a week and I have to get ready for more races. Stay tuned for more of my adventures/misadventures in this tough and rewarding sport!