Half-Marathon

Just after finishing

Today I ran my first- and probably not last- half-marathon.  After I ran Broad Street, Eric encouraged me to sign up for a half-marathon.  The one I did is 5 weeks after Broad Street, so all you need to do is keep up with your training from Broad Street.  ("all you need to do:" this involves running 3-4 times a week with increasing mileage on the weekends, from 10-12 miles.)  Somehow, I agreed to this, and signed up for the half marathon.

My only real goal was to finish- which I did!  I wish my time had been a little bit faster, but that's just moving the goal post on myself.  Considering that back in middle school, I used to whine and walk the .5 mile warm-up for gym class, this is no small feat.  Considering in elementary school I only made the cutoff for Presidential Physical Fitness by about 1 second on the mile run, this is an accomplishment.  

Running is good for me; I feel more energetic and have a more positive body image.  I like that Eric and I are setting a good example for our kids at including fitness and exercise in everyday life.  And it fulfills my need to have a goal and something to work toward.

The race went mostly well.  I was faster the first half than the second, and then there was a hill between mile 12 and mile 13 (cruelty on the part of the race-planners), which I ended up walking up. Then I picked up my running again so I could run through the finish.  I knew Eric was meeting me with the kids, so I was looking right-left-right-left to find them... but they weren't there!  Turns out they thought I would be a little slower, and Benjamin was dawdling, so they missed my finish!

with our family friend

My mom and sister also met me at the finish, so after letting me stretch and give all my race food to my kids, we walked back to the car.  Benjamin was sooooooo tiiiiiired that he needed me to carry him to the car.  

13.1 miles were just the beginning

Now I'm thinking of signing up for the Philly Half in  November.  Call me crazy!  I don't think you'll ever see me do a full marathon, but I would never have expected to do a half, so who knows...