So, it's been awhile since I've posted, again. But, I have HUGE news that I wanted to share with the few blogging buddies that I have left. Here it is....I finally did it! For years now I've wanted to complete a half marathon and I finally got the nerve to sign up and go for it. It took 18 weeks of hard training, a LOT of missed sleep, Sunday morning long runs, a new pair of shoes, and,of course, a sparkle skirt; but on February 17 I completed the half marathon in the National Marathon to Finish Breast Cancer. It was scary, awesome, painful, empowering, and amazing. I cannot even begin to tell you what crossing the finish line felt like. For that moment, I felt like I could do anything.
My friend from work and I decided to run the race together and we trained together, meeting every other Sunday morning for a long run. The shorter runs we did on our own. When race weekend came, we rode to Jacksonville, Florida, went to the race expo for our shirts and race bibs, and went out to dinner. It was also MUCH colder that when thought it would be, so we had to run to pick up some sweats to wear at the start of the race and throw off on the course. The race officials then collected all the discarded clothes and donated them to local charities.
On race day, we woke up at 3am, got a quick breakfast, and headed to the bus to the start. After what felt like forever, we were off! It was such an amazing race. The course took us through a beach community where people were outside of their houses cheering us on, onto the beach for a mile and a half, and then ended up at the Mayo Clinic. We ran alongside cancer survivors, people who were running for an ill family member, and people with recent diagnoses. Everyone was so supportive, positive and upbeat.
Unfortunately, my running buddy had a knee injury that flared up and I hurt my hamstrings, so we hobbled from mile 8-13, but we finished, and that was the only goal. For just a moment at the finish line, I felt like I could do anything. There was a lot of sweat and pain, and even a few tears. Now that i've finished one, I have the bug! Now that I KNOW I can do it, I'm going to pick a race and set a time goal and do it again.
If anyone out there has flirted with the idea of doing a half marathon, do it. You won't regret it!
Thursday, April 11, 2013
Sweat and a few tears
So, it's been awhile since I've posted, again. But, I have HUGE news that I wanted to share with the few blogging buddies that I have left. Here it is....I finally did it! For years now I've wanted to complete a half marathon and I finally got the nerve to sign up and go for it. It took 18 weeks of hard training, a LOT of missed sleep, Sunday morning long runs, a new pair of shoes, and,of course, a sparkle skirt; but on February 17 I completed the half marathon in the National Marathon to Finish Breast Cancer. It was scary, awesome, painful, empowering, and amazing. I cannot even begin to tell you what crossing the finish line felt like. For that moment, I felt like I could do anything.
My friend from work and I decided to run the race together and we trained together, meeting every other Sunday morning for a long run. The shorter runs we did on our own. When race weekend came, we rode to Jacksonville, Florida, went to the race expo for our shirts and race bibs, and went out to dinner. It was also MUCH colder that when thought it would be, so we had to run to pick up some sweats to wear at the start of the race and throw off on the course. The race officials then collected all the discarded clothes and donated them to local charities.
On race day, we woke up at 3am, got a quick breakfast, and headed to the bus to the start. After what felt like forever, we were off! It was such an amazing race. The course took us through a beach community where people were outside of their houses cheering us on, onto the beach for a mile and a half, and then ended up at the Mayo Clinic. We ran alongside cancer survivors, people who were running for an ill family member, and people with recent diagnoses. Everyone was so supportive, positive and upbeat.
Unfortunately, my running buddy had a knee injury that flared up and I hurt my hamstrings, so we hobbled from mile 8-13, but we finished, and that was the only goal. For just a moment at the finish line, I felt like I could do anything. There was a lot of sweat and pain, and even a few tears. Now that i've finished one, I have the bug! Now that I KNOW I can do it, I'm going to pick a race and set a time goal and do it again.
If anyone out there has flirted with the idea of doing a half marathon, do it. You won't regret it!
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