Kazuri
LIF Adolescent
Member since 8/11 703 total posts
Name:
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Ran my first half marathon!
My friend had talked me into running a half back in December. I had already been running 10Ks but it had been YEARS since I've run anything close to 13.1 miles.
Luckily the BTDTs on this board gave some great advice on how to up the mileage. I followed it and it worked perfectly.
The half was in South Carolina. So I flew to Greenville (where my friend is) and we drove down to the coast the night before the race. She had been updating me on the weather--it has been warmer than normal there--so I had brought 3 different sets of "running" clothes with me. There was supposed to be rain then the forecast changed. It was perfect morning for a run! Overcast, and a little cool, The half was on an island (Folly). A nice flat course. No wind that day, a little ocean fog. There was a 5K also. Total participants were around 700? But the half had only 300 or so runners. It was a bare bones kind of operation, they are raising money for a lighthouse and so they didn't spend anything on chip timing etc. We got medals and t-shirts though.
We started off at 8:30 in one big group. I started really slow, trying to keep something in the tank for the end. They had the 5Kers split off at the 3 mile mark and the rest of us started the big loop around the one end of the island. The course was NOT closed to traffic. I have to say though, the residents were very patient about waiting for groups of runners to past before easing their cars out. Many were clapping and shouting encouragement. The only problem on the course ended up being a group of spandex warrior cyclists who felt that they should speed though the runners, yelling at us to get "out of the way".
The first 7 miles SPED by. I finally got some water around 7.5 miles and chewed a couple sports beans. I was feeling good and my pace was steady. I was relaxed enough to enjoy the scenery and to check out the other runners. There were the hard core to the "yeah-I've-never-run-more-than-3-miles-but-how-hard-could-it-be?" types. Next thing I know, the 10 mile marker came into view. I grabbed a cup of gatorade at the water stop (the last one), spilled half of it on me and drank the rest. (SIDEBAR: For the love of all things running, teach the volunteers to NOT stick their damn fingers into the cups)
The overcast sky gave way to bright sunshine and things started getting tough. It was getting hot and the last 3 miles of the course had no shade and no water stop. I got to admit, mile 12 was my worse mile. I was slowing and my form started to fall apart. My right quad was feeling tweaky and I started to lose focus. Around this time, Julz33 pops into my head  . I'm thinking, "the woman ran another 13 miles injured and you're whining because your quad is jello-y" A group of about 5 of us began pacing together, sort of encouraging each other to make it to the 13 mile marker. Let me tell you...when we saw that sign and the end crowd, we all found our reserve energy and it was like a scene from "Chariots of Fire"! We all started hoofing it to the finish.
At the end, over bottles of water and bananas, we all congratulated each other and shared a couple stories of rude cyclists and runners. I stretched out my quads and found my friend (who left me in the dust). She wants to do it again next year. I may. Right now, I've got sore quads and an odd blister on one of my toes, so I'm not as enthused. haha.
I finished in 2:15. Not a total penguin but not the pace of my younger days.
Message edited 2/6/2012 11:12:58 AM.
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julz33
i run for bacon
Member since 5/05 20584 total posts
Name:
julz
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Re: Ran my first half marathon!
Congrats! Great job! 
It really becomes a mental battle at the end, so happy you stuck it out. And now that your KNOW you can do it, you will do even better next time.
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