Half Marathon

Steven and I finished running our first half marathon this morning! And, I'm already blogging about it because we are so tired that the only way we are surviving is by letting the girls watch a movie this afternoon.

We decided to sign up for this race exactly 8 weeks ago. When we were picking a race, we looked for distance from our house, and a race that wasn't on a Sunday. So, we signed up, and I casually looked at words like, "Coastal trail series" and "975 feet elevation gain" but didn't think about it too much.

We followed our training plan pretty well, except for at Disneyland and I had a cold for three of those eight weeks that would not go away. But, we felt ready. We know that we are not really that fast, but I felt pretty confident I could finish in one piece.

When we woke up this morning, it was pouring rain. I'm definitely a sunny skies kind of girl, but we got ready quickly and got to the starting line with plenty of time. I'm so grateful that Natalie came to watch the girls, because I really didn't worry about them at all.

It looks pretty sunny in this picture, but it was raining, and I could not stop shivering.

We started the race off at the pace we planned. I'm glad the new Taylor Swift album came out this week because I listened to it the entire race. Shake it off :)

Most of the first six miles were between a 8:40-8:50 pace. I was feeling pretty good, but kind of hungry. I had a plain bagel this morning, but clearly need to eat more. I have a hard time figuring out how to fuel since having an upset stomach is one of the hardest parts of running for me.

Then, the hard part set in. We had to climb almost 1000 feet in about two miles. Straight up hill. Straight up a muddy, rocky, slippery mountain. I mostly just survived these miles, but Steven managed to snap one picture of how pretty it was. Pretty but miserable and s-l-o-w.

Since the course was an out and back course, we turned around at the halfway point. Now, we had to run back down the mountain. While this was easier on my lungs, it was just as difficult for me. The trail was really muddy, with lots of loose rocks and tree roots, and I just spent every step trying to not fall. Around mile 8 I slipped and almost came crashing down, but somehow managed to keep going.

The last five miles we were back on track running at our planned pace. As Steven and I both discussed after, the last three miles were just, "when can the pain stop" but we kept going. I felt pretty good except for my feet and ankles had taken quite the beating down the mountain. When I saw the blue finish line up ahead, I was so excited. I could stop soon!

We finished together right at 2 hours 10 minutes. Which, is not a super fast time, and is something that I had to accept. When we were training and before I knew how difficult the course was, we were really training for a sub 2 hour half marathon, which is a goal I really wanted to make.

But, it just wasn't going to happen on this course, and even though we didn't make it, I am so happy. I was really proud of our effort, and how we kept going when it was not easy. We finished 28&29/110 half marathon runners, and I managed to finish third in my age group so I got two medals!

I can't believe that I'm already planning this, but I have my eye on a completely flat half marathon in March so I can see how fast I can really run.

Running 13.1 miles is never something that I thought I would do. It just seemed too hard and too far. But, we did it! And, I'm so glad that I got to do it with my best friend. A year ago Steven was on crutches, so I am both amazed and grateful at how blessed our little family has been this past year.