This Seemed Like a Good Idea Three Months Ago

I saw this on one of the t-shirts for sale at the Rock n' Roll Expo this weekend before the half marathon. Well said! It did seem like a good idea back in January when I signed up. But at the starting line Saturday morning, I definitely had the jitters. Luckily I was running with Lindsay and Christy who are both awesome! We started off in a pacing group that would finish us in 2 hours 22 minutes and so we were wearing signs on our backs that said 2:22. That worked pretty well for the first 8 miles or so but then we started lagging behind. I told the girls that I couldn't commit to that time anymore and ripped the sign off my back.

The last four miles were pretty tough. Each mile seemed to double in length but near the end there were people everywhere on the sidelines cheering us on. I have never had so much positive feedback while running. Of course, some of the people might have been cheering for the other 25,000 runners who were participating. As you may guess, it was rather congested most of the time.

Lindsay was so great in encouraging me- especially the last couple of miles. I don't know why 13 miles was so much harder for me than the 11 miles run I did a couple of weeks ago but I was really struggling towards the end. When we finally crossed the finish line, I didn't feel the rush of euphoria that I had been dreaming of. I kind of just felt like dying instead. Lindsay looked at me and said, "You look really pale. Are you okay?" I did feel a little woozy. Luckily, Lindsay had a gel pack which she shoved down my throat and I felt better. I tried not to notice the first of the full marathon runners that were coming in at about the same time we did. Granted they started a half hour earlier but still! We did finish in 2 hours and 26 minutes which was pretty close to the pacing group we started with and more importantly was under our goal time.

I was very sore after. I went back with Lindsay and Stephanie to their apartment where I had left my car. Stephanie took pity on me and got my purse so I wouldn't have to hobble up the stairs.

Well, as soon as my legs forgive me, I'll start running again. For now, I am looking forward to a fun week of family fun on the east coast!