My 1st half marathon!!! good times!!! :)

[froglegs]

It was in Carlsbad, my sister lives in San Diego so my husband and a friend went with me and we made a weekend of it. I spent Saturday being the DD for the 3 of them, then dragged everyone home by 10 to go to bed early. My pre-race sleep was interrupted by their midnight pizza binge and early morning laughing fits, but I did manage to get some sleep and by 5am I was tossing and turning. Then I fell asleep and woke up about 15 minutes later than I had planned on.

Interestingly enough, the hung over people were ready before I was. I got out of the car at about 7:10 (race started at 7:30) and headed straight for the port-a-potty line, which of course was ridiculously long. It was 37 degrees and I had already stripped down to my shorts and t-shirt because I knew I would be warm after the first mile.....but waiting in that line I was rather cold. And did I mention the line was long? While I (finally) took my turn in the port-a-potty, the race started. I got out and jogged to the starting area (that was my warmup) and joined the back of the pack, and it was still a good 5 minutes before I passed the starting line and started running.

As predicted, I was warm after a mile, except for my hands, which took another mile or so to warm up. I settled into a nice easy pace and enjoyed the really awesome atmosphere. A little after the 3 mile marker, the leaders passed (at mile 10) and everyone cheered. I felt great for the first several miles, went up a small hill, hit the turnaround, and started back.

At about 8 miles, I was starting to feel it. I started getting the usual pains in my feet and knees, and then my hips. Mile 10-12 was quite a struggle. After the 12 marker, the adrenaline kicked in and I finished strong.

After that my legs turned to jelly. I waddled over to return my chip, then waddled out of the finishing area and (surprisingly easily) found my entourage. Then I had to sit down for a few minutes and scarf down some food.

My chip time was 2:33:01, near BOP for sure, but it was my first half marathon, and I started my training having never run more than 4 miles, and that was 9 weeks before the race, so I am definitely happy with my accomplishment. I'm ready to sign up for another one (when I figure out where to fit it around my triathlons) and my sister even suggested that we do one together later this year! Next time, however, I will train for more than 9 weeks, and I will actually consume some calories on the run.