13.1 {It's Just a Really Long Way to Run}

On Friday night at 4am I was lying in bed wide awake, convinced that my half marathon was doomed. Matthew spent about 4 hours throwing up, Brad and I barely got any sleep, and I wondered how on earth I was going to run a half marathon in about 24 hours time.

On Saturday, my running partner Hayley called to tell me about a little oversight: she had forgotten to sign up for the race!!!! I actually laughed really hard because that is something I would do. Online registration was closed, so we decided to drive to our race location (about an hour away) so she could sign up in person. Her husband's family lives there so thankfully we had a free place to stay, plus we didn't have to get up so early for the race this morning.

5:45am rolled around, and we excitedly got ready. As we drove closer to the race location, we realized this was a big event. There were almost 5000 runners, plus all of their family/friends! It was by far the biggest race I've ever run.

I was nervous, but not too nervous. Truthfully I hadn't thought much about the race in the days leading up to it...Nathan on the brain :)

We stood in line for the bathroom for over 20 minutes and made it to the start line with just a minute to spare. I laughed when I saw this picture - the lady in the background looks like she is praying for help! I know I did a lot of that myself today :)

All of a sudden we were off - the huge crowd of 3000 marathon and half marathon runners surged forward, and it wasn't long before we were running at a pretty good pace. At this point, I was still smiling :)

The first six miles flew by. Our pace was right where we wanted it to be (around 11 minutes per mile), we were having fun, felt great, and I was still smiling.

I'm not sure what happened during mile 7, but suddenly I felt like I was in big trouble. I felt myself slowing down but I couldn't seem to do anything about it. I struggled through miles 7 and 8, and then at mile 9 a HUGE hill just about did me in. Hayley is a faster runner than me, but she was willing to stick with me for the race. As I started to slow down I knew I was holding her back a lot, so I told her to just go. It took me a few times of saying it to convince her, but eventually she took off and I was very glad. I didn't want to have to feel bad for keeping her from doing her best.

The last 4 miles were just plain awful. It felt like an eternity, like it would never end, like I was just crawling along. I started to wonder if I could even finish. My hopes of finishing in 2 1/2 hours went out the window. I found myself walking two different times, only for about 30 seconds each, but it was so hard to make myself start running again.

The course was absolutely beautiful, and the last few miles ran through a park. I thought to myself that it would be a nice place to run...just not today, and not for 13.1 miles :) Around mile 12 I told myself that although later on the pain would fade and I would feel like this was fun, I must always remember how awful it was and never do it again!

Mile 12 also brought another giant hill, and the blessing of many wonderful people screaming at me that I was strong and I looked good and I could do it. I think I might have shouted, "LIARS!" at them had I been able to speak :) Somehow I made it up without stopping, and finally I found myself with only one mile to go. I gave it everything I had and finished as strong as I could.

I could not believe it when I saw my time:

2:31:37

Yep, I missed my goal by a minute and a half! I really don't even care though, because I know without a doubt that I could not have done any more.

I was so proud of my friend Hayley for finishing in 2:22!

Overall, I'm just happy. I'm glad I did it, I'm proud of myself for sticking with the training even with many sleepless nights and a sick baby, I'm glad I could have the opportunity to accomplish something I never dreamed I could do, and it was a wonderful race.

Most of all, I'm glad it's over!!!!!

Highlights of the day:

My dear husband got up at 4:40am this morning, packed up Matthew, and drove an hour to cheer me on. He could have stayed home; I would have understood. But he knew how much this meant to me, and he came. Seeing them there, cheering me on...so wonderful.

I got to spend Mother's Day with my Mom! It has been so long since I've been able to spend this special day with her, and I was so grateful that she and my Dad were able to come to the race :) Matthew was very happy to have his Nana and Papa with him, too!

My Dad came not only to cheer me on, but also to run his first 5k with my sister, Joanna. I was so proud of both of them and I love that they are both hooked on running. I hope we can do some 5k races together this summer.

After the race was done, we hung out for a while, had some food and water, got massages (so great!) and took a few pictures before heading home.

I know that I could not have done this training or the race alone - I am so thankful Hayley was willing to join me for this adventure! The pain is already starting to fade, but I am still pretty much convinced that 10k is the longest distance for me :)

I am super about my medal, though :)