I still can't believe it, but I completed my first half marathon on Saturday! It was a Go Girl Event which meant it was all girls. I had pondered signing up for it last Thanksgiving when we did the Turkey Trot 5K, but I kept chickening out. But something kept pulling at me to do it even though I hadn't been training religiously the past few months.
I loved the idea of the whole marathon just being girls- celebrating girl power!
So, Kelly and I decided at the last minute to register!
We got pics of signs the night before that Angie and Mindy had made for us. They were hilarious. We are so blessed to have them support us.
We left by 6:00 am so we could be there and ready for the 7:00 start. The morning air was cool and I was a bit chilled but I knew being cold wouldn't last for long.
At mile 2, I was thinking... What in the h#&$ did I do? How am I going to get thru this?
Even though the week before I had run 13.1 miles in 2 hrs and 47 min, I could feel my run wasn't as smooth and I was a bit concerned.
At mile 7, I was thinking.... My legs are killing me. How am I going to finish this? My legs did not do this the week before.... so I had to take more walk breaks than I had originally planned.
I took a pic at one of my walk breaks on the course. It was a perfect day for a run and an even more perfect day for my first 1/2 marathon.
Carson and Eric met me at mile 10. They had been tracking me on the "find my iphone" app and met up with me on Holland St. I was so surprised to see them! Carson gave me a hug and ran with me for a bit. ;)
The last few tenths before the finish line, I heard someone screaming at me.... It was Kel. She had finished of course, and was running back yelling at me. Apparently, she had gotten really hot, and she had on a sport bra, long sleeve shirt, and short sleeve shirt over that. She had two girls she didn't know stand in front of her while she stripped off her two shirts, put the short sleeve shirt back on and then ran back for me. When she got to me I was walking, me legs were still hurting and my feet were swollen. She walked with me for a bit, and then said ok, we're going to run. It doesn't have to be fast, but you're going to run across that finish line. Then she ran with me through the streets and across the line.
Words can not describe how thankful I am for her. She has been my running buddy since we started last August. And she keeps me going and motivated. I only hope I do the same for her. She is so encouraging and she continues to run even thought her feet have been giving her trouble. She just amazes me.
It felt surreal to cross that line and get our pretty medals. I am so overjoyed that we did it.
I have never been athletic. I'm not good at sports. Working out was not part of my life until a few years ago. And running has been something that I always HATED.
When we decided to start the Couch to 5K program, I could barely run 30 seconds without feeling like I was going to die. It just felt wonderful to be able to do it!
It was also very cool that Keri, our sis-in-law had signed up to do the race. She began running last fall. We all did our first half together. I'm so proud of us!
As Kelly and I were crossing, the whole Sallee clan were waiting and cheering us on. It was pretty neat.
I'm loving the medal. Just. so. pretty.
And I had to buy a shirt. This one says it all. :)
The back says "finisher- Go Girl"
I am so thankful for all my friends and family who sent texts and words of encouragement. This was such a huge goal for me. It feels great to have accomplished it. I never thought at age 41, I'd be completing a half marathon for the first time.
When I finished the race, my thoughts were.... I don't ever want to do this again....
But, now that I've had some time to recover...There's another one locally in November.
So, who knows....
maybe I'll try again!
