I have so much to update on, but I feel like this subject deserves an entry all of it's own, because it's my biggest accomplishment to date and I know I have a lot to say on the subject. I still can't believe I ran a half marathon! This was the most incredible experience of my life! Yes, it was also the hardest thing I have ever done, but I can't tell you how amazing it felt to have that finisher's medal placed around my neck at the end of the race.
Beth and I woke up around 4 a.m. to eat breakfast and get ready and by 5 a.m. we were on our way out the door to head downtown. Denise called to see how we were feeling so I chatted with her for a bit. The closer we go to downtown, the more frequent the lighting was flashing. We were crossing fingers that the storms would roll out before the race started but unfortunately, we got rained on for the first couple of miles.
We walked a lot of the race and by a lot, I mean a lot. I'm actually disappointed in myself in how much I walked it. I know Beth had to be getting frustrated because I know she's faster than I am but she stuck by me until mile 9, when she finally decided to run it in. I kept telling her earlier in the race to go ahead and go but she stuck by me until mile 9. Without her, those final four miles were awful. I faced the biggest mental battles between miles 10 and 11 because my stepdad had been texting me since he works for our local ABC affiliate, which I had already passed once at mile 6 and would be passing again at mile 11 and he kept telling me "I only have three minutes" and I just burst into tears because I really wanted him to see me coming down that final two mile stretch when I hit mile 11 and I didn't think he'd be there because he would have to be in actually doing his job. Imagine my surprise when I looked up as I ran down the hill at mile 11 and there he was, on the balcony, watching for me. I wiped the tears away and pushed myself to keep running, telling myself I hadn't come that far just to walk it in.
I hit mile 12 and I finally started walking again because I was in so much pain. Since it had rained, my socks and shoes were soaked and they rubbed awful blisters on my feet. I was pretty much limping between miles 12 and 13. At mile 13, with .1 to go in the race, I was getting discouraged because coming from the opposite direction were all the people running the full marathon, who, in the time it had taken me to run a half, had run 26.2 miles. I started yelling at myself, telling myself I had't come that far just to walk it in and decided it was time to start running again. At that moment, I look up and I see Megan and James. That was it for me. I started crying again and sprinted to the finish line, where I collapsed into Beth's arms and was just crying. I couln't believe we had actually finished!!
A sweet older lady was one of the volunteers handing out medals and she asked me if she could do the honors of putting my medal around my neck. That did it for me. I started crying again! We headed through the finisher's area to the recovery zone where we got water, had our chips taken off, and got food! Then we headed out where my coworker Savannah was waiting for me, which meant so much! I loved that she had come all the way downtown to see me at the finish line. Then we headed off to find Megan and James and wound our way back up to the finish line to wait for Denise to come in, who had done the full. Megan and James left and I anxiously kept watching for Denise to come down the finish line so I could run her in. I think that was one of my favorite parts of the whole day, getting to run Denise in as she finished her second full marathon!
There is just nothing like the running community in Cincinnati and the Flying Pig was such an incredible experience. At mile 9.5, I lost my hat I had hooked around my running belt and got chased down by a volunteer at a water station to return it to me. I didn't get much further down the road when it fell off again because it was held together with velcro, which had gotten wet so it didn't want to stay closed. This time, some other runners returned it to me and we started chatting. They kept telling me I looked fabulous and they wished they had the stamina to walk/run the race the way I was. I told them I had been training for a year but that I was discouraged because I had walked so much of the race and they told me not to be discouraged because I looked incredible and should be proud of how far I had come. Then they told me that they would carry my hat for me if they thought they'd see me at the finish line and I just laughed and told them that it didn't matter, it was just a $2.00 hat from Wal-mart so I threw it off to the side of the road and kept going. I ended up seeing them again at mile 12 as we made the turn around the block to head back into downtown to the finish line and they were clapping and cheering me on as I rounded the corner to the home stretch.
It gave me chills to come down the home stretch to the finish line. I know I had gone downtown last year to watch Denise finish her marathon but it still amazes me to see how many spectators come out to cheer the runners on. To hear so many people cheering for us as we ran it in was one of the most incredible moments of my life. There is just nothing like the support of the running community in Cincinnati. It's one of the reasons I've gotten addicted to running and races. There's no such thing as size or body shape, or worrying about what someone else is doing. Everyone cheers for everyone else and even when running with a friend and running buddy, it's still an incredibly individual sport.
I officially finished in 3:49:01 but Beth and I had stopped for 10 minutes at mile four to use the porta potties (which are soooo gross, just incase anyone was curious!) so we deducted 10 minutes off of our time, which would make it 3:39:01. Not bad for my first half. I'm a little discouraged because I walked so much of it and had I run more it would have been a faster time, but I still came in under four hours which is phenomenal!
What's next you ask?? Well, apparently one half marathon wasn't enough because I am officially in training for my next one! My friend Desiree and I are running the Air Force Half Marathon on September 17th, which is held at Wright Patt, the Air Force base in Dayton. I think Tym is going to train too which is awesome! I'm sooo excited to run with Des for sure and to run another half marathon. My goal is to cut some time off and to actually run a good chunk of it. I'm going to try and do some speed training workshops at Mojo and push myself even harder to overcome these mental blocks that keep telling me I can't do this, when I know I can.
I still can't believe after a year of training that one day came and went so quickly but I can't wait to train for the next one! I am officially addicted to running and races and am excited for what the future holds! Here's to four months of solid training with (hopefully!) no injuries and setbacks! Flying Pig Half Marathon is in the books. Bring it on Air Force Half!!!
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