HALF MARATHON!

I am so tired.  Why am I writing this now??

Well, ta-da, I completed my very first half marathon!!!  It was actually super awesome.  I won't do a mile by mile, play by play - only because I don't remember much!  I can tell you the first mile was a cluster-beep!  It was nuts.  I was in corral #6...out of 6.  Apparently I put down a very slow anticipated finish time!  Haha.  So, my tag number was 6148, the first number telling everyone out there what corral I began in.  You were allowed to move back, but not forward.  This will be "important" later in the story.

So, mile 1 I was all about getting out of the madness that is thousands of women who were doing variations of running or walking or jogging...MADNESS, I tell you!!  I started off with two friends, but I just couldn't hang back and pace myself.  I'm not a fan of the huge crowd.  Especially when I was really hoping to catch up to the 2:15 pace group and I couldn't even see the sign!

At some point I passed another friend who was in the 2:30 pace group, we chatted for a second during a walk break of mine.  She is a great motivator, so she helped me to keep my head together and push on.  Seriously, we were only at, like, mile 2, so I didn't need TOO much motivation at the time, but it was kind of fun knowing she was behind me.  That way, if I did have to slow down seriously at some point, she would be there to "scoop me up"! 

The fans were awesome.  The photographers were at every mile and a half or so...maybe more often than that, but I was really trying to smile big for them and do silly "jazz hands" each time.  There were people out with fun signs and it was super cool to be running through "my town" with the streets blocked off!!  There was one turn around point, just before mile 7...the best part about this was the major distraction offered while watching all the other runners.  If I had a Garmin list of my mile splits, I would guess these were my fastest times.  I was looking for my friends and just completely ignoring the fact that I was running!  After I passed the turnaround and was going back, I heard some girls exclaim "Oh my gosh, there goes a 6!"  Yay!  That's right...I busted my booty to get up there with some 3's!!  As the mile numbers started getting higher, it was so fun knowing we were almost done!! 

And then....the hill.  AKA "I Will Hill".  Wow.  I had run it once before.  Holy moly.  It was tough!!  I will admit, I started avoiding my timed music at this point and just walked when I felt I needed it.  I knew I had long since passed the 2:15 pace group, and I just wanted to make sure I had enough energy to run the final 1/2 mile to the finish!  Thing is, you (I) really can't walk much more than a minute without the legs cramping a bit, so when I got to the top of the hill, I took a deep breath and took off.  Down the hill, around the corner, and TO THE FINISH!!!  I saw the time ticker at the finish line showing 2:14 as I crossed the line and heard my name.  It was awesome!!!!

Even more awesome?  The official results being printed up and showing my chip time of 2:06:56!!!  Over 6,000 participants, and I placed 610th! 

What an amazing feeling of accomplishment.  Knowing where I have been and seeing where I am now...it is just the best feeling.  I am so happy and proud and I know I owe every second of my run today to my Father and Saviour.  He was with me every step of the way.  He is why I felt good and pushed on.  I prayed all morning on the way downtown for the Holy Spirit to walk (run) with the the entire way and just let my legs do what they are built to do.  He didn't fail me.  Not once.

Whew.

I have had a little hot bath and i am now laying down with a couple of the kids for a little nap. 

Have a great day!!!

xoxo