Half Marathon: I Did It!!

Well, it's all over! I survived, and actually really loved it! I woke up Sunday morning feeling so nervous and super jittery. I was seriously shaking trying to get my breakfast down. I have no clue what was going on...I was just freaking out a little (as in on the verge of tears, not knowing if I was going to be able to do it freaking out). Once I got to Travis and Andrea's and we drove downtown, I was feeling better. There was definitely some anticipation waiting to get up to that start line. So many emotions all mixed in together. I was anxious, excited, doubtful, but also just proud of myself for even being there in the first place. To top it all off, this was a HUGE race. There were 20,000 people this year...and I only knew 2 other people on that course. I was kind of in awe of these people! Let me just say here that I had two real goals that I had set for myself for this half marathon: I wanted to finish the entire thing running, and I wanted to do it in 2 1/2 hours. So...my official time was 2:30:32 and I ran every single step of every freaking mile!!!!
My only big issue physically for the day was that my feet were already hurting even before I started running. Never good. My shoes were pretty much shot, but by the time I really realized this a couple of weeks ago, breaking in a new pair wasn't really an option. So, I chose to run in worn out shoes, knowing my feet were going to kill me. They did, but all in all, everything else felt really good. All of the aches and pains that I'd been icing and nursing all week seemed to just go away when I started running that morning.
I made a decision when I started that I was just going to keep it slow and stay between a 10 to 11 minute pace. I knew that I could run faster than that in the beginning and make up for some time, but of my two goals, the most important for me was to run the whole thing. I didn't want to start out too fast, and end up completely spent at the end. I had only run 10 miles before, and had no clue how I would feel past that point. I felt great the first half. Jon was with my family around mile 6 and I stopped to give Ava a quick hug and kiss...that definitely kept me going :) I was still doing fine up until mile 8 or 9, then had to make a quick pit stop on the curb to yank out one of the insoles that I had bought a few days before to try to remedy the shoe problem. It was all bunched up and driving me insane. I've never gotten a shoe off and on so fast in my life! I stayed under an 11 min mile until I hit mile 10. I was still feeling okay, I just really slowed down after that. I think I ran the last 3 miles in 36 minutes. Had I been a complete wuss, mile 11 is where I would have wanted to stop. I was so tired then, and everything from my waist down was just screaming at me. I kept looking at all these people at this point though who were walking, and I was thinking to myself, "really, you've gone this far, and you only have 2 freaking miles left...and you're going to walk NOW?" There was no way. Those last 2 miles felt like they took a lifetime to finish. When I finally saw the finish line, I almost cried. I managed to find enough energy to finish the last bit at what I at least consider a sprint! When I finished, all I wanted to do was take my damn shoes off! Had I thought about it, I would have stuck flip flops in my bag ;)
So, I am officially a half marathoner. I have the medal and T-shirt to prove it ;) I have to say that it was an absolutely amazing experience. I don't care how it sounds...I am damn proud of myself! It was hard and I never once thought about not following through. There were times when we were training that I questioned whether or not I would be able to finish the whole thing when the day came, but I knew that I was going to try. I don't know where this part of me has been hiding out, because I never would have thought in the past that this was something that I was capable of: physically or mentally.
The reality is that I probably would not have been able to do it without all of the support that I got from my friends and family. I have an awesome husband who constantly told me that I could do it, and made sure that I always had time to get all of my runs in. Plus, all of this would have never happened if I had not drunkenly agreed when Andrea asked me to do it in the first place...so thank you A! I also have an awesome sis who drives up to support me, even when she has other places to be! So...a big fat thank you to everyone who said I could do this, even when I wasn't so sure!!
You know what's crazy...I'm already talking about which one I want to do next ;)


Here are some pics that my sis took...I look like an absolute cheeseball, but whatever!



While we all know I'm not actually "too fast" my sis made me this sweet sign...totally a joke between us! Loved it!

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This is when I saw Ava and ran over to see her...which explains that doofus smile on my face.



Quick hug and kiss from the Monkey...she says they give me super powers to run fast :)



Waiting for me to finally finish!



All done, whew...still standing though :)

Half Marathon Training: Week 12

My last week of training is over!! All I really did was a couple of super short runs and alot of resting! I cannot believe that I am running this half-marathon tomorrow. I feel like it's pretty much all I've thought about for the last few months, and in the morning, it will all here and over before I know it. I'm a little nervous, b/c I've had some aches and pains that don't seem to want to go away, but mostly just excited. I never in a million years thought I'd be doing something like this, or that I had it in me....but here I am. I have no clue how I'm going to sleep tonight. It's like kid at Christmas anticipation, but waiting for miles instead of presents :) Wish me luck!

Meet Ellie...

Ellie the Elf came to live with us last week. Santa sent her to make sure Ava was being a good girl (as in I went to the store, bought the infamous "Elf on the Shelf", and have been using it to bribe the Monkey ever since!) Money well spent so far. So Ellie goes home to the North Pole each night and tells Santa how Ava was that day. Then she comes back and is in a different spot the next morning. Being the totally stellar parents that we are, Jon and I forgot to move her on the 2nd night, nice huh? We had to come up with a good story. I have to say that it's been fun coming up with places to put her, and Ava gets so excited when she finds her. She needed a little help on this one!

Half Marathon Training: Weeks 10 and 11

I'm pretty excited to type this, because it means that all of the hard part of training is officially over! The last two weeks have gone really well. I ran the Turkey Trot on Thanksgiving, which was so much fun. That will definitely have to become a yearly tradition! All of my weekly runs were 5 miles, and I had my final long run today...10 miles. It was not to bad, the weather was just killer. It was cold and so windy. I felt like I was running so hard, but going absolutely nowhere! Even with that, it was actually easier than my 9 mile run a couple of weeks ago, and I didn't feel like I was going to die afterward. I was just freezing and wanted the hottest shower ever! So I have a pretty easy week ahead of me, then 13.1 miles and that's it!! I'm definitely a little nervous, but so excited now too :)