London's Run...My First Half Marathon

This past Saturday, I finished my first half marathon. It was on January 30, 2010. I am so excited that I finished. When I crossed the finish line, I was speechless. I didn't know what to think, because it was REALLY HARD! The last 3 miles were brutal.

I've always wanted to do this. Well, about since I met Mike. I've always enjoyed running. I did a charity 5K when we were first married, but that doesn't really count. For the half-marathon, the timing just never worked out. I wanted to run one with friends and I was always either pregnant, nursing a newborn baby, etc. So you can only imagine how stoked I was when Maddy e-mailed me in August suggesting we do London's run. The timing was going to be perfect. Avery would be almost 1 when we raced!!

Back in August, I was running about 3 miles on a regular basis. I just tried to up my distance and pace little by little. I ran 4 miles for the first time in October. I did my first 5 miler on Halloween. They were tough. Then, we started training in November. Brenna, our friend joined us. I was so sad that she was unable to continue after our 8 mile run due to a lot of hip pain. She was amazing!! We missed her, it wasn't the same.

We did a training schedule from Hal Higdon. We basically upped our base run during the week from 3 miles twice a week to five miles by January. We added one mile to our long runs on Saturdays each week. Every few weeks we would back off on our long runs to give our body a chance to rest. We did our long runs together. Those were really fun. Maddy would always start out running with us, and then we had to try and catch her by the end. But, it was really great motivation. I teased her so many times about having motors or springs in her shoes!!

The most exciting part about it was our good friend Michelle flew in for the race. She moved to California almost 2 years ago. We were so excited to see her. The night before the race we went over to Brenna's house for a carb fest & catch-up fest with Michelle.

The morning of the race I picked up Michelle and Maddy at 6:30 a.m. and we drove to Schnepf Farms. It was COLD! We were all really excited. We started running a little faster than I was ready for, but I wanted to keep up with Michelle and Maddy as much as I could. I'm glad I did, I think it helped my overall time in the end.

The first 6 miles flew by. After 6 miles, though, Maddy took off. Michelle and I stayed close together for the next few miles. Then, I got behind her. Miles 10 - 13 were so hard. I was really tired and they felt so much longer than miles. I was so thirsty and loved the water station at mile 11! I opened my GU pack, but didn't think I could stomach it, so had to throw it away. My body was definately very fatigued. My hips started hurting. I kept thinking, only 4 more songs and you'll be done.....and counting down that way.

When I had about 1/4 mile left, it was so funny, Maddy came running around the corner. I thought, "What? You just finished a half-marathon and you came back to run with me and cheer me on? You really do have springs in your shoes, wished I had your energy." But then I told her, "You are a true friend, to come back and get me." She said I didn't have much longer to go and was making me try to sprint. She was trying to get me to keep up with her. I was trying to hard and I'm sure she was so frustrated with me. It did push me a bit. Thanks, Maddy. I'll always remember that!! Maddy did awesome by the way, finished in 1:56 and some change.

Here are some pictures from the race.

I came around the corner and kept looking for Mike and the kids. That was what I would visualize while training when I felt I couldn't make it one more mile. I would picture them at the finish line cheering me on. Here I am....right when I saw them for the first time!
Feeling so tired, you can tell I can barely pick my legs up. Just wanted to be done!
I think I am the first person ever to cross the finish line at such a slow pace, everything hurt, I didn't care about the few seconds a sprint would save me.
The kids were so cute. They had made some signs for me. I loved them. That was such a cute surprise. To see them holding their signs and yell go Mommy at the finish line. Mike was so cute to have them make these. And he had flowers for Michelle and I at the end, that was really sweet!
Here is my team! I couldn't have done it without them. Mike was the biggest trooper of all. Sacrificing 3 days a week to take the kids so I could run. Thank you, thank you, thank you, babe! I told him he needs to plan something for him now so I can support him. He was my biggest cheerleader!
Here's Michelle and I. I think Michelle got 2:04, she did so awesome!!! I finished in 2:07:32. I was so excited. My goal was to finish in under 10 minute miles. My pace was 9:45.
We finally found Maddy so we could all get a picture. She knew so many people at the race!

Thanks so much Maddy, Michelle, and Brenna for doing this together. I don't think I could have done it without you guys. It was such a fun experience.

Michelle asked me right after the race, if I would do another one. At that point, I was shocked and wanted to say no. But, what came out of my mouth was "I need a break." She agreed with me. But, now after a few days of perspective behind me, I think I would totally do another one. I think it would be fun to try and improve my time. We'll see.

Happy running! When's the next race?