Did my first half marathon today!

The weather was almost perfect. Temps were in the upper 50's, partly cloudy. The wind was a little gusty every now and then. I like to wear a ball cap when I run in cool weather, and it nearly got blown off several times, but that's no biggie.

I managed to keep it slow at the beginning. Stayed at the back of the runners/ahead of the walkers, but I still went a little faster than I'd planned. It felt good, though, so I kept plugging away. The first half was awesome. Felt great and kept running at a steady pace. We turned around at 6 1/2 miles and I walked a little here and there to shake my legs out during the second half. The last mile was the toughest, but what I wanted was to finish and finish strong - no wobbling or belly flops at the finish line - so I just took my time. I finally got there - 2 hours and 36 minutes. I really didn't think I could do any better than 2' 45" so I was really surprised to see it on the clock.

Thought about the TE running peloton all through the race and how I'd have to fess up if I didn't finish or if I went easier than I could've. It sure did help. Thanks for all the support.

I'll have a lot of good memories from today. The frosting on the cake, though, was getting home and finding out my shorts were on backwards. ( I'm such a dork!) (Not a good idea, either - the tags really chafed my tummy!)

Deb