My first half marathon - the Army Run 2008

Last Sunday morning was the big race. The half marathon I've been talking about for the past two and half months. The race started at 9am and it was freezing. We shivered our way to the start line and after a quick pee stop, poured into the corral. Here we are all huddled together:



I was cold for the first 10K then I warmed up a bit. I had been running for an hour at that point so it was to be expected. The route went right by my work and I was buoyed by the huge pink K I put up in my window. Running by that and then down a huge hill were motivation enough to keep me going for a while.

I hit a wall around 13K and stopped to walk for a little longer than usual. I finished off my sports beans (jelly beans that are packed with protein - a life saver) and filled up on water.

I was okay after that. I ran past J's grandparents and SJ's boy AN - so nice to have people cheering me on. I was at about 17K when a guy came up behind me. He was running just a little faster than me so I decided he would be my personal pace bunny. I introduced myself and asked if I could run with him. My new friend and I pushed through the last 4K, past J, S and L who were there to cheer me on, and across the finish line.



The time on the clock read 2 hours and 6 minutes. I couldn't believe it. My chip time was 2 hours and 3 minutes. A good 30 minutes faster that I was expecting. No wonder J was surprised to see me - I was only a couple of minutes behind his dad.

I had my chip removed, was handed my medal by a cute army guy, grabbed my bagel and orange slice and went to join J, S and L. I was able to cheer on SJ and M as they ran past.

It's surreal to think that I was actually able to run that far. I know people run marathons all the time and even longer distances, but for me, that 21.1K was the longest I had ever run and I felt great. All the time I spent running over the summer, all the blisters and sore muscles, the trips and the falls, it was all worth it. Every now and then "I just ran a half marathon in 2 hours!" would pop in my head. Surreal.