13.1

If you had told me a year ago that within the next year I would run a half marathon, I definitely would have laughed at you. I could barely run a mile! I must give credit to Miss Carrie Cook (aka Carrie Cool) for being my inspiration. She ran her first half back in the spring, and it was then that I decided a half marathon was on my bucket list. Now I figured it would be a couple years before I got around to it. But lo and behold, I was talked into the Halloween Half – just five months away. I started training right after I got back from Europe. I printed a nice little training schedule, with short runs or cross training four times a week, long runs on the weekends, and two rest days. I’m proud to say that for the most part, I followed it pretty closely. I have to thank Susie for whipping me back into shape after two months of delicious Spanish food, and for suggesting that real running shoes might help my knee problems. They did.

Training became slightly more difficult once I got back to school, but I kept to my schedule as best I could and ended up running 13 miles at one point (but not 13.1. I was saving that for race day). I’ve found that once I get past four miles, I can just go. I don’t know what it is about the first four, but they’re tough. My four milers were always the hardest.

Race day – October 29 (Happy Birthday Uncle Ken!) – came bright and early. I was up at 6:00, ready to go. My momma (so glad she could be there!) dropped me up at the starting line, where they had a huge tent for all 3000ish racers. We were way up above Sundance, and it was FREEZING. I think it was 26 degrees when the race started. Luckily, all the body heat kept everyone warm. The race started at 9:00, but we had two heats, so I started around 9:20. In the meantime there was a costume contest – this is the Halloween Half after all. I wasn’t too extravagant. I just wore all my clothes inside out and backwards. My shorts looked pretty funny though. They have the built in undies, so it looked like I was wearing a diaper when I put them on inside out. I got a good laugh out of it.

Like I said, I was off at 9:20 down the canyon. By mile nine, my feet and knees were starting to ache, but I just kept going. There was nothing else to do but keep putting one foot in front of the other. As cheesy as that sounds, that really was my thought process. My initial goal was to finish under 2:45:00, since that’s how fast I ran that 13 miles I mentioned earlier. I finished in 2:23:01. Yeah, baby! What a great feeling. I smoked it.

You can bet I loaded up on the protein afterward, yet I was still more sore than I’ve ever been. Come Monday, I could barely walk down the stairs (and of course I live on the third floor). I was hobbling around like an eighty-year-old. But I kinda like that super sore feeling. It makes me feel like I made it through something super tough, which I guess I did. I’d like to give a shout out to all my friends and family who encouraged me through this process, especially my parents who were both there to see me finish. I really couldn’t have done it without you.

Is a full marathon in my future? I can’t quite say yet. I’m not sure I’m physically capable of doing that. But a year ago I thought I couldn’t possibly run a half either, so I guess you never know. I’ll probably keep doing halves every now and then. It’s brutal, but the feeling of accomplishment afterward is so worth it.

I also practically ran 13.1 miles mentally this week. I had four, count ‘em four, midterms. But like last time, I had no class the entire week. It was great. I finished up Thursday morning and enjoyed my nice, long weekend. No more midterms this semester! I can’t believe it’s almost over. Seriously, where the heck have the past two months gone? Is it weird that I’m feeling sad about leaving this semester behind? Yes, yes it is. I’ve just been having so much fun though. I’m crossing my fingers that the next one is just as good, or even better.