Sunburst Half

I did it!  I survived my half marathon!  I didn't chicken out or hitch hike it or anything!
My body feels awful, but I am glad that I did it.  I've told myself for a long time that I wasn't athletic because, well, you know, that is what my older siblings did.  And that excuse doesn't cut it anymore.

The race was really intimidating and I was freaking out a little bit before it started.  But my gem of a husband told me that the real victory was all the early morning runs I did before race day; the race itself was the icing on the cake.  He is a good one, huh!

I ran for the first half and then slowly decreased from speed walking to just, well, regular walking.  By mile 9 my knees and hips were doing way less than stellar.  And then and 80 year old passed me.  Fortunately, not much later, I was cheered on by my friends (one of them lives in the neighborhood the race went through).  And it gave me the pep I needed to finish.

Finishing is the best part of any race, but the Sunburst races finish with pizazz.  You run down the tunnel at the Notre Dame football stadium to the school's fight song and cross the finish line on the 50 yard line.  Pretty darn cool.  I felt like Rudy.

So, I finished in 2 hours, 59 minutes and 23 seconds, which is not a great time, but I am thrilled.  And so as I crossed the finish line (with a little extra push at the end for you, Ruth), my legs decided that they had done enough.  So the staff there took me to the medical tent where they treated me for heat exhaustion.  I drank water at every station and it wasn't that hot out, so I don't really know why I had a problem.  But it wasn't anything a few cold, wet towels and a bowl of melon couldn't fix!
 I am glad I did it.  A half marathon was a little too ambitious for a first time runner, but I definitely found some inner (and a bit of outer) strength that has been worth it.  I didn't train very well for outdoor running (I ran almost always on a treadmill) or hills.  I am not done running now that I've reached this goal, but my legs have to stop aching before I think about doing another race.

Before I finish this post, I must express some appreciation to Ken.  When I was running, he got up early with the kids and took care of them.  He was patient with my complaining about the training runs.  He got me lots of ice water and bananas.  He rubbed my legs and my ego more times than I can count.  He supported me in every way for months and months. XOXOXO