My first half marathon

Well the much anticipated Harvest Half Marathon was my goal race and I managed a time of 2:31. I know that must seem terribly slow to some, but to me it was a tough slog. I started off way to fast, feeling great in the first 5k, and running with my two running buddies who both have a faster pace than I do. I was feeling soo good I didn't want to slow down and 'pace' myself like I had planned. The race plan was like this: 1st 5k is all uphill, so GO SLOW. This 5k should be the slowest. Next 5k is down hill and into the flat bottom of Fish Creek Park, familiar territory as we run here all the time. I still felt great here and ran at a very fast pace for me, around 6:15/km. My 10k time was almost the same as my first 10k race earlier this year, 1:08. The next 5k was supposed to be where I would pick up speed, as it is mostly flat as well, which brings us to the last 5k, and this last bit includes a huge ass 600m hill which we were planning to walk up. Then the plan was after catching our breath at the top of Sikome hill, 'giver' all the way to the finish line. Right. After Sikome Hill I wanted to give up, not 'giver'.

Weeellll, it didn't quite work out that way. 1st 5k was wonderful, fast. 2nd 5k was great too, fast and fun. By 15k I was starting to feel some serious muscle pain in my right glute and hamstring area. Then the inside of my hip joint started to hurt. I ended up walking here for at least 10 min. Then the Hill. The Hill from Hell. At the 17km mark, we had to start our 600m climb up Sikome Hill, which most people walked. At the top I was completely and utterly spent. I wanted this stupid half marathon business to be finished, and I would never be so stupid as to do another one. I couldn't believe I actually thought this would be 'fun'. I felt like crying because of the thought of quitting and giving up. I knew my 11 year old son was waiting for me at the finish line... the thought of explaining to him why I quit..nearly killed me.

Then I met an angel on the course. A sprightly happy soul, wearing the strangest of outfits, and some kind of pink compression sleeves. She was 'coaching' another runner, a young girl named Betty. This angel wasn't actually in the race, she was running it for fun to help her friend Betty finish. She chatted away to try to keep Betty's mind off the searing pains in her body. And I guess she saw that I was near death, because she asked me to join them and run the rest of the race in with them. We had 4km left to go. Every rational part of me wanted to quit and never do this silliness again. Obviously I was feeling the effects of running too fast too long earlier in the race. And the lack of training as I only trained for 10 weeks instead of 16.

Ms. angel got Betty and I to run/powerwalk as much as we could to this sign and that one and kept reminding me of my precious son waiting for me at the finish line. I dragged my body which was just a ball of pain by this time, along with them. 700 metres from the finish line I see the blond shaggy hair of my dear sweet Noah. He ran up to me enthusiastically and said ' Hi Mom, how are you? You don't look fine. Are you ok? I'm really proud of you you know. Come on we're almost at the finish line, it's just over there. Mom you sound funny are you sure you're ok?' I was sucking wind pretty badly at the end, my asthma finally getting the better of me, and as soon as I crossed the finish line and slowed down, I held on to Noah's shoulder, and burst into tears. I couldn't believe I actually finished this race.

From couch (never ever having run before in my life) to half marathon in 13 months. I am proud of myself despite my slow time. I did the best I could, I pushed myself beyond my limits, and despite the overwhelming desire to quit, I stuck it out and achieved my goal.

I AM A HALF MARATHON RUNNER!

And you know what, my next one is in exactly one month, Nov. 14. It's called the Last Chance Half. last chance to kill yourself before the new year...lol. I am actually looking forward to it. I think I'm addicted!