Half Marathon Memories

I don't have my pictures right handy, I  will add them later, I just had to get out my experience before it fades into my not so good memory. 
The half marathon I have trained for the last 3 months finally arrived on Memorial Day and it was a perfect day. No rain, wind, it wasn't freezing or too hot.  Honestly couldn't have asked for better weather which was very rewarding after training 3 months in one of the wettest, coolest springs in a while, we ran many a run in snow, sleet, wind, rain, cold and only a couple in heat. 
When I say we, I mean my running girls.  Danielle and Linnell.   Both of these girls came to my exercise group in the winter when I started contemplating the training and they both decided to join me.  Neither had done it before but I convinced them it was doable.  We didn't always run everytime together, just as our schedules would allow, but I usually ran with one or the other every week. 
Having someone depending on you was a great motivating factor to getting all the runs in.  I noticed I ran better with someone with me, and didn't talk myself out of finishing the run when they were with me during training.  It was also great to get some consistent women time in, which is a very important factor in my well-being. 
One last thing I must tell you is how supportive Nate was for this training, he would get off work early, put off going out to the farm, take the kids with him out to the farm, and even stay at the house until 9 am ON A SATURDAY.(A very big deal) while I did my long runs.  I really appreciated it. 

So back to the race:
We all drove together to the race and got there at 6:15 ish, and the race started at 6:45 am. Not nearly enough time to get all the way ready, I didn't even get to warm up, but that wasn't as big a deal as it would've for a short fast run. My nerves were pretty well in check, everything felt ok.  I had trained with shin splints, but I wrapped them so much there was no chance for them to hurt.  I was just happy to be there. 

I was tying my shoes when the race started, my running partners were like:get up Charity the race has started!  So off we went and even though it felt like we were hardly moving I had a Garmin watch that tells you your pace and miles and fancy stuff, and we pretty much stayed under 10 min miles for the first 4 miles and then the low 10's for the next 3.  It was the fastest we had run ever and I was starting to get some hip pain, by mile 7 it had progressed to shooting pains down my leg from my hip socket.  I knew I needed to slow the pace down, not for my endurance or fatigue  but just for the pain in the hip.  My girls didn't want to leave me but I wanted them for sure to have the best race they could for themselves and sent them ahead. 

It was difficult to keep myself at a good pace and not hurt my hip, but the watch helped.  I kept singing zipidee doo dah in my head, and my old trusty classical piano recital piece that has stuck with me and I've used for many races.  I never hit the wall so to speak and felt good the whole time, the last couple miles got boring so I ran interval speeds to break it up, and it helped.  I did get to see Nate's parents who waved from their suburban on mile 12 and that picked things up for me.  Danielle called at mile 12.5 to see where I was and that helped too.

 I finished not quite as strong as I wished, but I couldn't get my legs to go along with my heart. It was great to see my husband and kids and Susan and Eldon and my running partners and their families.  It was so rewarding to finish a goal and strengthen friendships and feel so healthy.  I had lost 23 lbs in the process of training and changing my diet and it felt great.

I wanted to run this race to jumpstart a new lifestyle and it worked.  I have many other goals now that I wouldn't have imagined setting before this, it really is amazing how working hard to achieve a goal can help change your paradigm.

If you'd like to read this experience from my running partner Linnell's perspective, (who's humor and insight is quite refreshing) check out her entry on her blog: http://fowersfive.blogspot.com/2010/05/131-lessons-learned-today.html