I made it through my 1st 1/2 marathon! I know I shouldn't be proud but I am quite proud of myself. The weather was perfect today. It was a bit overcast so it didn't get too hot...I really needed that. I gagged down a goo before the start of the race, did some stretching, put on my headphones and was ready to go. The 1st part of the race was uphill and I when I started I just couldn't seem to get a deep breath. It just felt really hard and I thought "great, running 1/2 mile is about to kill me." I wasn't even running faster than my normal race speed...in fact I was going slower. After the 1st mile it did get easier and I was able to actually breath. I focused on just running one mile at a time. After each mile I would walk a little and take a drink of water. Matt and the kids were at several parts along the course to cheer me on. They were really the only cheerers along the course so they stood out and made me feel quite special. A lot of people told me that he should get the husband of the year award...I would have to agree. At mile 5 I took a PowerBar Gel. It was thinner and easier to get down than the goo but still didn't taste great. There were 2 girls that were running about my same pace for most of the race. Finally at about mile 7, I took of my headphones and started talking to them. I ended up running the rest of the race with them which really helped me to keep going. They also stopped and walked every mile so I could still just keep on focusing on 1 mile at a time. My main goal was to finish in under 3 hours but Matt told me he would get me a spa treatment if I finished in under 2 1/2 hours. I pushed myself, but I made it. I don't know yet what my official time or place was, I'll have to add that when they post the results. I was going to take another goo at about mile 9 or 10 (I only had one of the PowerBar gels) but I decided I would probably puke if I tried. Instead I chewed on some gum. My legs were getting pretty tired by mile 8 and I was downright hurting by mile 11 but I kept running. I tried to push it hard at the end and my last mile was actually my best split time! They had free stretching afterwards plus a very nice breakfast to make it worth it. Man was I hungry! Now it's time to take a nap before Matt's company party later today. Oh yeah, and I did get two nice blisters as war wounds. I could feel them coming on about mile 6 but what could I do at that point! Here are my split times for those of you interested: Mile 1 -10:30 Mile 2 -10:28 Mile 3 -10:42 Mile 4 -10:57 Mile 5 -10:40 Mile 6 -11:29 Mile 7 -11:23 Mile 8 -12:19 Mile 9 -11:38 Mile 10 -12:49 Mile 11- 11:15 Mile 12 -12:27 Mile 13 -10:17
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