Half Marathon FINISHER!

I ran a half marathon.

I ran a frickin half marathon and am still in disbelief that this past Sunday I ran 13.1 miles. Signing up for this half was a very, very big and lofty goal for me. It's definitely not something I ever imagined I would do - but I did it.

To say I was nervous going in to race day would be a HUGE understatement. My training didn't go as I had planned or hoped due to a knee injury, in fact training was so bad that the longest training run I had was my 6.17 mile run in New York City. I had a really hard time wrapping my head around the fact that I was going to have to go more than double that distance and was worried about how my knee would hold up.

When my alarm went off at 4:30am on Sunday morning I thought I was going to puke but as soon as my brother showed up, all nerves disappeared. My brother and I signed up together and he completed his first FULL MARATHON! When I saw my brother I realized what a big day it was for both of us and then I actually got kind of excited.

My stepdad dropped us off and we had about an hour to kill before Nate's race started. I really loved having that time with my bro before he set out to do 26.2 and am so glad I was able to be with him during that time. At 6:30am I sent him off to run his first marathon!

I had an hour before my race, so I used that time to fuel up, hydrate and stretch and then at 7:30am - I was off. My goal for this race was simply to finish but as I was running I realized that running this half marathon meant more to me than I realized. Setting this goal was so far out of my comfort zone and once I got out there I pushed myself harder than I have ever pushed before. I was able to run the first 8 miles without stopping at a 10:35 pace. Like I said, my longest training run was 6.17miles and I wasn't able to run that without stopping to walk, so to run 8 miles with no walking was a monster victory for me and I was pumped. Mile 8 required a quick bathroom break and then I was able to run the better part of mile 9 with just a little walking. It was then that my knee really started to act up so I alternated walking and running from miles 10-12 and then once I saw that mile 12 sign, I picked it back up. I could not believe I only had 1.1 miles left and immediately got emotional. Then, I see my best friend and her fiance walking up the street and when I saw them I almost lost it. They joined me for the last bit of my run and were cheering me on and making me laugh just enough to make that last mile fly by. And then I saw it...the finish line!

Crossing over that line and realizing I had just completed 13.1 miles was a feeling I'll never forget. It was such a feeling of pride, accomplishment and disbelief. I had done it, I had pushed myself, I had finished and I'd done more than I ever had before. I finished with an official time of 2:30:38 and am thrilled to tears about that!

The ONLY thing that really stunk is that Jason was out of town on a work trip. I was so bummed not to have my hubby at the finish line but the cheering squad that I did have did an amazing job of celebrating my finish!

Not long after I crossed the finish line, my baby brother completed his first marathon! Seeing him cross that line was SO special and I had a hard time comprehending that he had just done what I did but TWICE {and way faster - 8:44 minute pace}! I was so very proud of him, what a huge accomplishment!

Being able to share this with my little brother was really cool. He has been a HUGE motivator and support in helping me learn to not hate running and without him there is no way I EVER would have done this. I don't know if I have ever felt as proud as I did on Sunday morning.