Race Day!

Alright ladies and gents,

The blog that has been requested. I was too mentally exhausted and honestly excited to sit down and write this when I first got home. I also wanted to see how my body felt after a couple hours, to let you know.

Today was amazing. It was tough, I have friends from running club who run halfs regularly, admitting that this was a very tough course. It HAS to be hillier than your average course, otherwise, more people would die running, lol. The hills are a mixed blessing. They keep you awake,  keep you motivated (looking forward to the downhills), and really just mix things up. BUT, they are hard. In some cases, VERY hard. The notorious hill on this run is a good mile or so of straight up hill. Everyone around me was walking. My running buddy, hard determined, just kept running, slow, but still running. I absolutely admire her determination, I can honestly say I did NOT run much of that hill, I did however, speed walk past a bunch of people.

I have to say that I had an new found motivation today, the motivation to finish in under 3 hours. I knew that a 3 mile half required about 13.5 minute miles. Every.Single.Mile.Marker told me if I was on track to finish in 3 hours. I was MILKING my watch, to make sure I was on time. Many times I was off, 30 seconds or a minute, but I kept on, determined. I eventually, sadly, left all of my running buddies behind with this new determination.

By myself, no music, making friend after friend with lone runners, I kept going for the last 4ish miles. I walked more than normal, but when I ran or walked I did it with purpose, continually keeping that goal in my mind. My regular snacks were making me feel sick, so I kept drinking water to keep them down. By the time I got to 11 miles, there was no doubt. I had 28 minutes to finish 2.1 miles. This was very tight, but possible. I knew that to get there I had to give it everything, but I had nothing left. I kept going, on overdrive, no heart, no brain, just body and road. The hills kept coming, literally, till the last .25 miles or so. I kept checking my watch, knowing I was cutting it close, 3 hours was fast approching.

Well the flags were in sight, and I knew that I had to sprint to make it. As I crossed the finish, with Carlos, running coaches, and complete strangers cheering for me, I had to pause my watch. I had to know. 2:59:42. . From my start to my finish, 2:59:42. I made it, to my goal, by a matter of seconds, a matter of steps, a matter of breaths.

I am grateful to everyone who motivated me, encouraged me, supported me, and it literally pushed me those last 2-3 miles when I wanted to stop. This quote comes to mind, "Success lies just past the point where other people quit,"and today this was so true. These last few miles I pushed ahead, and was able to gratefully meet my goal.

Tonight I am icing knees and left achilles. Surely, these are temporary pains that ice and rest will repair. My feet and hands are about back to normal size, lol. And I am guzzling water like none other, but anyways this is the update.

Would I do it again? Surely. Will you be hearing more about my running? Most definitely! And thanks again for the ongoing support!!

 Alex and I pre-race!

 Group Post-Run!

 Me, turning the 13 mile marker, .1 left to go!

Race Medals!

Race Group, post race kickin back :)