thirteenpointone

I ran my first half marathon on the 5th! It was so rewarding but one of the most painful things I have ever done in my life!

I had created a training schedule by Runners World, and had followed it pretty diligently. I figured I would do pretty well since my long runs during training were getting to the point where they were relatively easy. However, Jake and I drove the course the week prior to see what I would be up against. Turns out the first four miles was running up East Canyon which meant huge inclines!! The rest was down hill or flat. It got me so nervous because I hadn't been running many hills, which caught up with me the day of the race.

We arrived up there 30 minutes before the race and it was still pitch black and pretty cold. When it came time to start the race everyone lined up and they blew the horn. Now they had mile markers at every mile. I reached the first mile pretty quickly, the second mile was hell!!!! Seriously it felt like 10 miles. By the time I reached the mile marker for 2 I had assumed that I was somewhere in the middle of mile 3 and immediately started cussing. haha. I was pissed.

After mile 2 there were a few switchbacks that we had to go up. I looked at the very top and just told myself that all I had to do was make it to there, and the rest would be better. As I turned the corner on to the second switchback I thought that was the top of the climb. Turns out there was another switchback. Once again, the cussing started. Another point to mention was that this whole time there was no water breaks. After much cussing and slow running I made it to the top of the climb while listening to Miley Cyrus's "The Climb". Very appropriate music.

Mile 4 through 10 went extremely fast since it was down hill. I didn't stop to walk once and was running at a faster mile than I think I have ever ran. At mile 10, my legs started to throb. I'm assuming it was from those initial hills since this had never happened from my long runs in training. From mile 10 to 13.1 I would run a mile and then walk for a minute or so. I kept the walking down because it felt better run, even if it was a slow run. It was almost painful to just walk. When I finally came out of the canyon and turned the corner so there was only .4 miles left I swear I was about to throw up. I started walking and that is where Jake saw me. He had come up the road so he could get some pictures before the finish line. At this point I could see the finish line so I just sucked it up and ran the rest of the way. I was so happy to be across that finish line.

We stayed at the finish line and got drinks and ate bananas for a few minutes and then left. I knew I was going to be in pain if I didn't start stretching. I went home and stretched every hour but I still couldn't walk normal for the next few days. I had this "waddle" walk. It was pretty funny. I'll post pictures later since Jake has them. Next time I start training for another one I will definitely be doing hills. I learned my lesson.