I have never understood people who run. I always thought, "Who in their right mind would ever run mile after mile, pay money in order to do so, and train for months and months in order to run more?"
That is until I was offered my first taste of group running last May. A friend of a friend got sick and offered up her race bib for the Hippie Chick Quarter Marathon. Figuring I would walk the whole thing, I joined my friend for the event. However, after watching woman after woman run by me, if felt the itch to join them! I convinced my friend to run a little here and there and we ended with a time of 1:33.
Here's a really derpy photo of me before the run started.
Since I had been looking to change up my work out routine, I made it a goal to run a half marathon. I landed on the Girlfriends Half in Vancouver, Washington. It was still early registration(ish), so I pulled out the credit card and went for it. Knowing myself, I decided I better add on some mid summer runs to help keep my training on track. I signed up for a 5K, a 7K, and a 10K, all leading up up to the Girlfriends in October. If I kept up on my training, I would be okay. My friends signed up for the short runs, but not the half due to the cost, however I felt it was worth it.
I didn't do the best at my training. I fell behind due to a myriad of reasons: a trip to SE Asia this summer, extreme temperatures in Portland, laziness. However, I was able to put in an 8 mile and a 10 mile practice run with just enough time to taper off for a trip to Vegas last weekend :-)
Flash forward to today. I arrived early with my spouse in tow. It was early so he was going to rest in the car until 11, when he would come to watch me at the finish line. We walked around and checked out the vendors, saw where the start/finish line was, and I got in the 9:30-12 minute mile start area.
I was worried about the clothes I chose. I had a difficulty on my last training run with chafing in my running shorts with leggings, so I opted for pants for today's run. I also opted not to wear the long sleeved shirt we got because I know I get hot easily and hate having sleeves.
A couple minutes after 9 the race started. It was slow going getting out of the starting area due to people not adhering to the designated groupings. (This is me grumbling) But after dodging walkers, talkers, and some looky-loos, I made it out of the downtown area and onto the waterfront.
I had few expectations for this race, I knew I wanted to run the entire thing and I also had a vague goal to run it in 2:15. I was just glad it was overcast and not raining! I had previously turned off the voice feedback on Map My Fitness, so I had to clue as to what mile I was at (aside from the inconsistent race mileage signs) or as to what my splits were. I was just hoping I was keeping it to at least 10 minute miles in order to make my goal time.
It wasn't til around mile 8 that I started lagging and hating life. My right foot/arch was hurting due to my accessory navicular, my ankles and feet were hurting, and my inner thighs were starting to ache. I kept telling myself it was already half over. I just kept focusing on the person in front of me, and occasionally overtaking them. Despite the pain, my competitive side was still alive and well.
However, that's where the signs for the half marathon stopped. We rejoined the quarter and I saw their signs, did the subtraction, and was overjoyed to find out there were only 2.55 miles left! Unfortunatly, the half marathoners then veered off the quarter track and down into what I considered hell. Down a hill and around, to who know where. I was freaking tired at this point and cursing myself for being one of those people that paid money to run!
But I pushed one. I hadn't stopped running yet, and wasn't going to when the end was so close. Finally I saw a sign for 12 miles. Thank goodness, 3.1 miles left. At that point I was pushing myself to run a little faster and ended up running my second best split ever (8 mile 22 sec!). As I pushed myself over the I-5 overpass, I sped up. I knew the end was coming and I definitely wanted to end with a bang. My husband was waiting at the finish line, and I was ready to EAT!
Of course there were a couple inclines coming up to the finish line, but at that point I was sprinting. I passed through the finish line, got my necklace (though I would have rather had a medal, but that's just me), and waited for my husband. And waited. Where was he? The finish line area wasn't that big. I checked my phone and saw he had texted 4 minutes earlier. "Getting food, will be back before you're done." He misunderstood me and thought I would be done around 11:30, not 11. Ugh. I sat down at the bus stop and moped. I called him and he ran back, apologizing.
I check my app so see my time, as I didn't notice it when I ran across the finish line. It says I did 14.1 miles in 2:06. I'm confused. Either my app messed up, or the course was longer than it was supposed to be. And if it was longer, than I ran it in under 2 hours! I'll have to wait til the official times are posted to be sure.
Here I am, post run.
Here's all my swag!
All in all, my first half marathon was good. I've got some new things I need to work on (some ankle/feet strengthening, they hurt like hell right now and are so sore I can barely go up and down our stairs), purchase some better fitting clothes to prevent chafing (which hurts almost more than my ankles!), and do some hill training.
-Desi
#running #halfmarathons #13.1 #girlfriendshalf
*** EDIT: My official race time was 2:05:20. Not too bad!
