I completed a half-marathon.
I vacillate between being really freaking proud of myself, because 13 miles is a long way and 2 hours is a long time to run. and feeling like kind of a wimp because A)it was half a marathon not a full (kind of feels like that was a race invented for the not-quite good athlete) and B)I was not fast. I didn't take walk breaks, but I was not fast. Below 50% for my age.
But I did it, dang it!
So, because this is a blog, I get to indulge in some self-satisfying play-by-play.
Since this was, in fact my first race of any kind, ever (not recommended by the running magazines btw. But I couldn't bring myself to pay money, then drive several hours to run the basic equivalent of going from my door to the base gate and back. ) I decided to pick a set of pace runners and stick with them. I figured I could do 2:30 easy so I found the 2;20 guys to push myself. (Side note, there were two of them, the guy was obviously a weight lifter who did NOT skip leg day. This guys calves were huge.) I'm glad I did. For one, the pace ended up being about what I could maintain over the distance, but if I had had to run an extra 10 minutes I don't know if I could have done it. In the beginning I wanted to go faster, but everything says don't sprint out the gate, find your pace and stick to it. So, I did.
Things I learned:
- Body Glide is awesome. Drizzly rain the whole time, 0 blisters anywhere.
- Podcasts are great, so long as they are interesting. One came up in my list that was an interview with Ben Bernanke. Very dull. Not good running. I can't actually remember what the last one I was listening to was. It was background noise to my brain convincing my legs to keep going.
- Those people who hand out gatorade deserve medals. They must have been freezing. But that stuff was a life saver.
- If you are going to run in cool, cold, or chance of rain, bring something to wipe your nose. They handed out soft swag caps at the start. It became my hanky and I grateful for it.
- Related, if there is a chance or rain, make sure to seal opening in your phone case. I forgot and ended up running with the case shoved up my sleeve. Still got some water under the cover. The phone is fine but it made using it a pain since the touch screen thought the water was a finger.
- If people are going to meet you and the end, have them figure out where they will park before they go do their thing. This was the one major bummer of the day. Jared and the kids wanted to meet me at the end, but we forgot that they have to close a bunch of roads for the race. There was NO parking near the finish line, and since we're not familiar with the area they couldn't find a way to get down there. (Had we been familiar with the area, we would have realized that the end only looked a long way from the beginning and there was a parking garage near the start that would have worked fine) Also, we had gotten the kids up waaaay too early so poor Jared had been trying to keep super tired children happy all morning. It was cold and wet outside so the walk to and wait at the finish would have been miserable for all of them. Overall, I chalk that one up to rookie mistake. I was looking forward to happy kid faces when I got done and I missed them. Like I said though, they would have been wet and cold, so I don't know how happy those kid faces would have been.
- It really is a mental game. Around mile 9 I was ready for the rain to stop. Around 10 I wanted to be done, but at that point there's nothing to do to make it shorter, you just have to finish. Miles 11-13 I was tired, and getting annoyed at still having to run when I was tired. But I just accepted that I was finishing the stupid thing so I better keep going.
As for weather, it was wet and rainy and I stepped in puddles. It probably would have been a lot more pleasant had the bay not looked like this:
Oh, final finishing stats: 2:18:34 chip time (the chip that times when I cross the start, till when I cross the finish) for a 10:35 mile, (pretty much what my long runs have been) 34th for my age group. I finished 336th of 663. (I case you're wondering the first place finished did it it 1:15 with a 5:43 mile and is 31. When he passed us on the way back (an out and back course) he looked like he was in a whole lot of pain.)
Other cool things of note, I did meet my reading goal for the year. I finished book number 50 sometime last week (2 weeks ago?) and then finished two more long ones I've been working on earlier this week. I think I might get through another book or three before the year is out, but I'm not pushing myself. I like Netflix too.
I am starting to think about what I want to accomplish next year. I'm thinking about books to read, physical goals, a scripture study plan, professional development and keeping my family close.
I'm not sure I want to pursue another running goal right now (if I do another half it will be spring or fall when the weather might cooperate more.) I'd like to do some more over-all fitness and strength training, but my work out time is in the morning when I have a kiddo in tow. I hate parking him in front the TV while I work out and then shower.
Oh, and the CPR course. It was yesterday, at the same time as the race. I'll have to do that next year, I suppose. :)
