Saturday, May 12, 2012

My first half.


Half marathon finisher!
Time: 2:39:49
It's official. I did it! I can now call myself a half marathoner. The race was yesterday, May 12th in Brookings, South Dakota. The weather was wonderfully perfect. It started out a bit chilly, but really turned out sunny, not windy and just great. The small college town that the race was in was pretty, nice and the course wasn't difficult at all..minus one pretty steep hill. Overall, no complaints on the course.
I started off my morning by oversleeping by 40mins. So panic mode set in. Luckily, I got all of my stuff together the night before, but I didn't get to sleep until after 11:30pm..so that could be why I didn't get up in time. Although I'm quite meticulous when it comes to alarms and being on time..my phone locking up in the middle of the night is the culprit and definitely threw me off.
My race buddy picked me up at 5:15am and surprised me with a really nice frame that had a cute display of the words: Note To Self: Today Will Be Amazing. It was so sweet. She gave it to me since this is my first race, so I'll always remember it. We had a nice hour drive to where the race was. We chit chatted about quite a few things; it made the time go by quicker than I realized and I didn't have time to get nervous about the race.
Once we got there everything went by pretty quickly. We pinned on our bibs (didn't pin them on beforehand because they're the ones with the timing chip built in, so you can't bend them.) and found someone to take our picture before we went to the starting area. There weren't as many people there as I thought there would be, but given the fact that they only let so many people register, I should have expected it. Brookings is a small town, so it only makes sense. So we stood in the port-a-potty lines for only a few mins--it was awesome compared to other race stories I've read and heard about! And just a PS--I've never used a port-a-potty in my  adult life so it was a new experience for me. (I think I used one when I was really little and it was at an old campground/park and it was a wooden hut with a can/hole in the ground--if my memory is correct!) So, my running buddy prepared me for what I was about to experience and it wasn't that bad! There was toilet paper and hand sanitizer so I was happy and it was a positive first time experience.
After that it was time for the race to start, so we got to our spots near the 10min/mile and waited for the horn to sound. It all went pretty quickly during that time..
The start of the race wasn't as congested as I anticipated it would be. I started out with my running buddy, of course, and we were able to stay together for the first few miles. My knee wasn't hurting much at all during the first few miles and I was at my usual pace too. I think it was around mile 5 when I noticed that my left knee was hurting..most likely due to overcompensating for the right knee where my injury actually is. Around mile 8 is where my left knee and adductor muscle were increasing in pain. I'm not going to lie..I did walk more than I anticipated and more than my mind originally wanted me to do. But my body had other plans.. At mile 10 the pain was pretty excruciating and the thought of 3.1 more miles sounded like torture. However, I managed to get to the finish line..hobbling/jogging mostly. Either way I FINISHED. And that was my ultimate goal. I didn't have a set time or pace in mind. I figured I'd stay at my usual pace, maybe just a touch slower..but with my knee injury my pace was slower than I thought it would be. I stopped at all of the water stations even though I had my amphipod water bottle. I'm glad I brought it and also glad that I stopped at all but one of the water stations. It was so great to see so many volunteers at the water stations and all along the race course. The entire course wasn't closed off to traffic since Brookings is such a small town, so it was really nice that they had volunteers directing traffic too. During the race I managed to meet some really great people. It was nice to be able to chat and get to know a few people along the way..hear their story, talk back and forth and encourage each other. That was another thing I noticed during the race--there were quite a few runners that expressed kind, motivational words as you passed them or as they passed you. That in itself was really surprising and definitely made the experience that much sweeter.
Overall, I had a great time. I really enjoyed myself and had fun..despite the pain I was in. My eyes welled up with tears when my finisher's medal was put around my neck and my friends and husband were waiting there to congratulate me.

It was definitely an experience I'll never forget. It was a great way to commemorate turning 30 years old. I'm glad I did it.  As for future races? I'm not sure. We'll see what the MRI shows and what my sports doctor has to say about it.

A few of my race pictures.


My running buddy, Marnie and I before the race.

We did it!



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