My first 1/2 marathon

So.

In December of 2007 I had decided that I wanted to take my running to the next level and run a half marathon, 13.1 miles (surely you knew that though). Also in December 2007, Joe and I took a Disney World/Disney cruise vacation minus the kids. That was the month Brennon was... well you know... conceived. (I've said this repeatedly since, "Go on vacation without your kids.... you'll come home with one in the oven...) ANYWAY my dreams of running a half in the next 5 months were thrown out the window. Shortly after having Brennon, I was introduced to Zumba. I became an instructor and then running became REALLY boring. However, the half marathon dream was still there in the back of my mind. Soooo, in December of 2010 I decided that it was time. I was going to start the rigorous training to prepare for a half.

About 3 weeks into training... around the end of January, I stopped. Running was far too boring compared to zumba, plus i was training alone.... plus it was really cold outside. On Valentine's Day I ran again.... then before the race I ran two more times. SERIOUSLY not nearly the amount of running that I SHOULD have devoted to training.

I'm not going to lie. Two days before my race I woke up from a nightmare. It went something like this: me getting to the race without my ipod, and without my sports bra (yikes!) OH, and I hadn't trained. I woke up nervous because the worst part of that nightmare was, in fact, reality.

I called my friend the next morning to tell her that I wasn't going to go and embarrass myself and try to run a distance that I was not prepared for. She told me that I had to. Well there you have it. She said it, so I committed once again. Nervously. I got to my Zumba class that night and the ladies had brought me a "good luck" balloon. A very thoughtful gesture, but it really reminded me that, yes, I probably needed some luck. However, I was still committed.

So now for race day... (this story seems longer than need be....)

Here I stand at 5:15 am, spinach smoothie in hand and fake zumba tattoo applied to my hand (I knew that I was going to have to remember that, "I push women all the time to do their best, zumba was going to help me remember to keep on truckin') I really could have used some mascara in this picture....

Here's the finish line where, Joe Jayden, Hadley and Brennon were waiting to greet me. It wasn't bad.... see? There's still a smile on my face :) Maybe I was just so happy to be done running that I was almost laughing? :)

Joe was left to get the kids ready all by himself and look at them? He did a great job! He even put coordinating bows in their hair!!

Here are the ladies that I rode up with and who encouraged me to do this race.

We did it!!!

The race mile by mile...

miles 1-7

Fabulous. Hilly-er that I expected but I felt great the entire time

miles 8-10

started to feel the lengthiness of the run, but still felt fine and positive.. no aches or pains

miles 10-11.5

desperate sudden need for water. This is when it was tough. I had stopped sweating, had a headache and had the chills. If I had been able to grab a water bottle off of the lady's fanny pack in front of me, I seriously would have (Note to self: Don't make fun of people who wear those RIDICULOUSLY dumb looking fanny packs with like 4 water bottles... they're the smart ones.) I reached the next drink starting at 11.5 miles. That helped, but dehydration had already set in.

miles 11.5-13.1

not the easiest thing I've ever done to say the least :) My hip joints started to hurt and the thought of 1.5 miles seemed daunting. I walked for about 3 or so minutes after that last drink station. I was ready to be done. But I didn't quit. Instead I convinced a few people near me to start talking. We all needed the distraction. I met a nice 62 year old man from Canada. 62? I'm 26! he was amazing.

And then I crossed the finish line :)

So in the end.... would I do it again??? ABSOLUTELY! I was planning on when I wanted to do my next one while I was running this one. In fact, I can't help but think how awesome I might do if I actually train? :)

I love that the race was the Andrew Jackson Half Marathon. I LOVE living in the South :)