I did it!!

So this is another out of sequence blog post. In as much as I like to do things chronologically this just can't wait until I get around to writing about current events!! Saturday May 8, 2010, I finished my first half marathon!!


I participated in the Indy Festival 500 Mini Marathon. I was among 35,000 participants running 13.1 miles around Indianapolis and the Indy 500 race track! Looking back through this blog from where I started, I could never have imagined last year at this same time that I could finish a half marathon!!

Because of so many participants in the half marathon as well as a 5K, we were only able to register the Thursday and Friday before the race. Luckily, another friend from my church and her daughter were doing the race too so I bummed a ride from them to registration and the race.

Thursday afternoon Vicki and I headed down to Indy to pick up our race packets and peruse the expo. When we got to the convention center we were directed to the back of the room to the packet pick up area. The magnitude of it hit me when I saw the entire back of the room with booths lined up and mounds of shirts behind them. After we picked up our race numbers we walked and looked at all the booths.

Friday was a rest day. I had nothing planned and didn't want to change it! After all the next day I was going to be running 13.1 miles. At 5 I went over to Vicki's house and loaded up on carbs with spaghetti, Alfredo and bread! Then I went went home and went to bed.



4am Saturday morning my alarm went off! I got up ate my breakfast, oatmeal and coffee protein shake. Gathered my ipod, water, gum, chapstick, and gu and waited for my ride!

A you can imagine with so many participants traffic was crazy. Thankfully Vicki's husband drove us down so we didn't have to worry about parking!! Because of so many participants we were broken up into corrals according to our estimated finish time. I was in corral "v" and Vicki was in "z" so we parted ways and went to our respective corrals.

It was such a cold morning. Temperatures were in the low 50s so I was thankful I brought my jacket. One lady who was in my corral was wearing shorts and a tank top! Needless to say she was very cold! As we waited for the race to start they had music playing and beach balls surfing through the crowd. Soon though the national anthem was sung and the race started!!

My corral was about 3 city blocks away from the start line so it took a good 10 minutes for us to finally walk to the start line and begin our journey. As I crossed the start line I said to myself "there is no turning back now!". Once I crossed the start line there was no quitting until my feet pass the finish line!

I have not built enough strength to continuously run long distances but I do a combination run walk. So I started out my pace with a 4 minute run and 1 minute walk. It was a comfortable pace and was feeling pretty good. Along the sides of the road were set up different entertainment, mostly bands but there were also square dancers, tap dancers, and cheerleaders. That really helped along the run, especially since I am use to running out in the country it was neat to see so much stuff! Before I knew it I had hit the 5K mark. I had never run a race any longer than 5K so once I passed the marker I was embarking on new race territory! :)




About mile 5 nature started knocking and I had to stop at one of the conveniently located porta pottys. Bad thing though, about 15 other people had the same idea. So I ended up waiting in line. I struck up a conversation with the people in line, one girl was even from a city right next to where I live! Another lady was not sure if she was going to make it to the end, she had a 5 month old baby she was nursing and was pretty uncomfortable, bless her heart! Quickly though the line moved and I was back on the road again.

I had a hard time getting back into my pace. I ended up doing about a 3 minute runs and minute to 2 minute walks. Soon we entered the Indy 500 race track. I was so excited to be able to run around the track. Even though the track is 2 1/2 miles around it seemed like forever to get around the darn thing! I tried running but my hips were hurting, maybe to do with the angle or something. By the time we made it around the track I was glad I was over half way finished.

Heading into mile 8 I began feeling my usual, "I don't think I can finish this". I had just pretty much walked the last 3 miles and was feeling kinda crappy. Then I remembered I had put some gu in my pack. So I ate a gu and started feeling better. I knew I had lost time taking a potty break and walking the track so I changed my pace to 5 minute run, 1 minute walk. I had trained at home for shorter distances at the 5/1 ratio so I knew I could do it and hopefully gain ground.

I had brought my cell phone with me and was updating my facebook status and taking pictures along the way. It was such a motivator to me, especially when I was tired and hurting a bit to read all my friends comments of encouragement. One of my friends even wrote "left right left right" which cracked me up! It was so amazing to me that I had so many people rooting for me to do my best and it motivated me! I had their words in my hand and I knew I could finish this race!



The last 4 miles flew by once I got into my pace and before I knew it I was one mile away from the finish! I decided I was going to run the last mile! I was feeling on top of the world, I had never gone this far, even in my training and I was going to finish! The marked each quarter mile of the last mile. As I approached the 1/4 mile left mark my legs were screaming at me but I wanted to finish strong and finish running. I dug down and kept my eyes on the finish, there was nothing in between me and the finish line.

There is something special about the finish line. No matter how much pain or tiredness you felt up to the very second before you cross the finish line, once you cross that line it all goes away! The moment I crossed the finish line at 3:23:08, I felt on top of the world. I WON!! Another special thing about races too is, no matter if your the first to cross the finish line or the last everyone who crosses it is the winner.

For me crossing the finish line was a symbol of everything I have accomplished this past year. A year ago I was doing the 2 mile hog jog and could have never imagined pulling of 13.1 miles, in one day!! Two years ago I never had a thought in my head that I would be running. But here I was May 8, 2010 completing 13.1 miles! All I can say is, The Best is Yet to Come!!