I ran my first half marathon today! [Archive] - Women's Cycling Discussion Forums

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Fujichants

08-31-2008, 03:22 PM

I participated in the Disneyland Half Marathon today. It was humid, muggy, and uncomfortably sticky outside. It sucked. I am still very tired and have a headache (dehydration?) Even though I got water at every rest stop. There were a lot of walkers, and this seemed to mess up my pace, so around mile 4 I already started getting tired. Then, my stomach felt all topsy-turvy and I thought I was going to throw up. About 5 minutes later, I got chills and shivers and had to walk. I really think it was because of the weather. I have no problems running 10 miles during my training runs, so why was this so damn tough?

I find it very difficult to get into my zone when there are so many people around (I believe 11,000 people participated), especially when they are walking and pumping their arms so it is hard to get around them. There were some tough hilly areas, which killed my knees.

Overall, my official time is under three hours, my net time (chip time) is 2:43:08. I was aiming for a 2:30 finish, but considering I felt so sick at certain points (which caused me to walk), and it is my first half marathon, I can't really complain.

BF finished it in 1:43:32. I want to be fast! Why can't I be a born runner? Sigh.

Fujichants

08-31-2008, 04:43 PM

Thanks :)

I know what I did wrong...I took 600 mg of ibuprofen before the race, even though it was strongly advised not to by the race organizers. This caused my upset stomach and dehydration. I will never do that again!

I am looking for a next half marathon...something fun like Disneyland...

tygab

08-31-2008, 09:11 PM

I am looking for a next half marathon...something fun like Disneyland...

Congratulations! you will have this to look back on both good and bad for all your future experiences - and they are addicting! You had a good time for your first (or tenth, for all I care!!).

Are you in a part of the country you can train outside year round? If so, finding some other halfs should not be too hard to do. Take some well deserved rest and then set yourself a new goal. My sister who has done several marathons says "once you've done a half, you can always do a half." I did my first in May and I see what she means (with some training), but it is not a given to me...

OakLeaf

09-01-2008, 07:22 AM

Way to go Fuji! Great job!

Deborajen

09-02-2008, 05:44 AM

Congratulations! Great job pushing through when your stomach felt yucky - that's hard to do. Did you eat during the run or change any water/food (etc) intake patterns you'd practiced during training? I'm really sensitive to that, not to mention that heat and humidity really take it out of me. You did great!

Deb

Aggie_Ama

09-02-2008, 06:34 AM

Great job Fuji! Is there a Disneyland Marathon? My husband and I have our calendar marked for Disneyworld 2010 but he has never been to Disneyland, that might be more fun. :)

ETA- Darn just saw it is only a 1/2. Don't think we could travel to both.

Fujichants

09-04-2008, 07:56 PM

Aggie_Ama

09-05-2008, 05:35 AM

Hi Aggie, sorry for the late reply. Disneyland only hosts the half marathon. I definitely want to do the Disney World one next year!

It is a fun half (I am happy I picked it as my first one). Maybe you guys can do it before doing the Disney World marathon? As a little warm-up?

I am already telling BF I want to do the one in DW. He has no excuse because with his employee discounts, we can stay there for really cheap!

I would definitely love to do the DL as a warm up but I don't think we could fit the trip in next year, we have a biggie (alaska) planned for the summer. But you just never know.

If my husband (boyfriend) got Discounts I would be there all the time. I love Disneyworld, it has been 20 years since I went to Disneyland and it is definitely something I want to do soon.