I just completed my first half marathon today! It is a great feeling, minus the searing pain coming from my waist down. Everyone I have talked to has been asking me: "How was it?" and "How do you feel?". I think that documenting each mile is the best way to adequately describe the roller coaster of emotions I went through this fine Sunday morning.
5:30am: Alarm goes off, immediate reaction is excitement followed by the urge to hit the snooze button once.
7:00am: race start time. Am I standing in line eagerly awaiting my turn to cross the start line? No. I am scrambling to find a parking spot because I ended up hitting the snooze button 3 times instead of once.
7:33am: officially started the race. Luckily there were 8000 runners so no one had to know that I had just gotten there in time to start.
Mile 1: Feeling great! Even though iPods were discouraged, I brought mine anyway. I was not about to spend 13.1 miles listening to myself breath.
Mile 2: Still feeling awesome! Im keeping up with the 2:00 pacer, if I can just stay with her I will be set!
Mile 3: Legs are starting to feel the burn, but I keep running. I toyed with the idea of running one mile, walking the next and so one, but Im feeling too good to slow down now.
Mile 4: Still running - wanted to slow down but "Push It" by Static X came on my iPod and its physically impossible to walk through this song.
Mile 5: Elvis just cheered me on, sweet. I decided to slow it down which is really hard to do when so many people are running past you. 2:15 pacer just passed me, crap.
Mile 6: My shoes are awesome, one of the best purchases I have made in a long time (Nike FreeRun+). My feet hardly hurt!! Saw a sign that said "Run! Zombies!". So I did.
Mile 7: I made a really lame attempt to drink my water as I ran past the group handing it out. Good thing I have a DriFit shirt on otherwise this would be awkward. Ok I need to walk.
Mile 8: Back to walking, toes starting to cramp. 2:30 pacer just passed me.
Mile 9: A man dressed as a pregnant nun just helped direct us across a busy street, sweet. I am amazed and grateful for all the spectators along the route, they really helped push me out of my mental blocks.
Mile 10: My hands are swelling up. I KNEW I should have drank more Gatorade before the race, shit. Everyone loves a girl with sausage fingers right? There is a lady playing air guitar to Bob Seger's "Hollywood Nights" on the side of the road so I better run the last half of this mile.
Mile 11: I am walking. Slowly. I may or may not have broke both of my ankles, at least thats how it feels. These shoes are the worst purchase I have ever made, might as well have run barefoot. 3:00 pacer just passed me, thats it- now Im pissed.
Mile 12: Oh God Im still running? Surprisingly it hurts less if I run, I think because my body is still trying to catch up to my brain. At least I can see the stadium.
Mile 13: Finally, the final mile!!!! Hands are swollen, face is sun burnt (totally forgot the sunscreen), and my feet are either cramping or broken. We are now running alongside the marathoners, which makes me realize they just ran twice as far in the same amount of time. Amazing athletes.
Finish: I start alongside the stadium and just go into a dead sprint. Not because I wanted to get a good time, but because I wanted the banana and gatorade waiting for me at the end of the line. I cross the finish line at the 50 yard line in Memorial and cant help but yell out a resounding 'FUCK YEAH". I grab my medal and food and begin the long process of calming my body down.
Now: There are ice bags on my feet, but they say I will live. I had so much fun training for this race, but Im so glad its over.
