I Ran A Half Marathon Y'all!

So with this being my first half marathon I wasn’t really sure what to expect. I had been training for the past 4 months, so I knew I was ready. My training consisted of Wednesday night East Nasty Runs, Sunday morning East Nasty long training runs, boot camp and extra cardio on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, and yoga on Saturday if I could make it. I think people training for this type of thing usually run more than twice a week though.

I completed a 10k on April 10 in 52 minutes and 45 seconds. So according to the McMillian Running Calculator I should be able to finish a half marathon at 1:57:23. Now the 10k course I ran was nice and flat. I knew the half marathon would not be. Not even close. During my training I was lucky enough to run parts of the half course multiple times. My running/training partner Brittnay had set a goal of finishing under 2 hours. Now for me, this was sort of an unspoken goal. I literally only told a handful of people because I didn’t think it would actually be something I would accomplish. Brittnay and I met on a Wednesday night way back in January. We were both new to East Nasty and both running near each other and both alone. The rest is history!

The weatherman predicted it would rain on Saturday. Not just rain, but RAIN. We’re talking potential hail and tornados. So Brittany got to my place around 5:30 AM and we headed over to the start. After parking and waiting in the port-o-potty line we went to find our Nasties. Around 6:40 we realized the race was starting 15 minutes early. We rushed to our corral where we were going to run with some marathoners from our group who were going to run 9 minute miles. Perfect! Brittany had her Garmin set for 8:55 miles. I had mine set for 9:05 miles. If we could stay within that range we knew we would be good. The only thing I was slightly worried about was the weave factor and how much distance that could add on to our run.

Mile 1-3 were pretty good. We probably ran them 10 seconds or so fast due to excitement. It was uphill, so I probably shouldn’t have pushed too hard. Mile 4 was fine, but mile 5 was where things got a little shaky. I missed a water stop that I desperately wanted right at end of mile 5. And there wasn’t another one until mile 7. And also note that miles 4-9 are my least favorite part of the course. I knew this when I was training and I had been trying to prepare myself for it. Despite the crowds of cheering people I still hated it. I finally got water at mile 7, but if I was thinking properly I should have eaten my Gu at mile 6 and then had water to wash it down. But apparently at this point my brain couldn’t really think properly. So I ate the Gu after mile 7 and it was pretty unpleasant. I felt like I had it all over my face. And people were handing out fruit. All, I wanted was some freaking water and/or cytomax. I just wanted some liquid. Finally, I got some liquid at mile 8 and pretty much got some at every other water stop until the end. I might have to invest in one of those dorky running belts that carry small water bottles… At mile 11.5 the course splits off. The marathoners go one way and the half marathoners go another way. At mile 12, I pretty much started to go crazy (well not really, but almost). I knew I had pushed it to the limit and I knew I was going to hold Brittany back. She was much more vocal about her goal and I didn’t want her to be over 2 hours because of me. So, I told her to run ahead. I needed to slow down. These thoughts went through my head at this point: Maybe I should just walk the rest of the way. I AM NEVER RUNNING AGAIN! Oh man, I just wasted a couple hundred dollars on a Garmin I am NEVER going to use again. This sucks. This really sucks. And I have to go to the bathroom. Uh, oh. I just peed my pants a little bit (true story this happened…I lost control…it wasn’t like a full on pants wetting, but seriously WTF was I doing to myself?

And did I really just tell you all that?

Despite my slower pace, my last mile was almost a 10 minute mile, I ran the last .10 of the half marathon at something in the 8 minute mile pace. Before I knew it, the race was over and I had my finishers medal. I was pretty proud of myself for finishing. And proud that I finished in under 2 hours. I definitely think I pushed my body to its limit though. Who knows if I will do another one or when? It was a wild ride and I have made some amazing friends. I did something I never once imagined I could do. And I am pretty dang proud.