My First Half Marathon

For months I have been asking myself just what exactly I let my sister talk me into. For the past 10 weeks I have been training for the Woodland Half Marathon. There were days I felt like I couldn't even run a mile and then days when running long distances did not seem so bad. Through my training I found that I am a much better runner first thing in the morning, and seem to do better when it is cold. I have been fretting about this day ever since I signed up for it in November because after running my first 10K and thinking I would never make it, I did not know how the heck I would ever run 13.1 miles. My two goals were to:
                                1. Run the whole race
                                2. Attempt to finish it in 2 hours and 15 minutes

So Melissa and I arrived in the Woodlands yesterday evening and went to the Health Expo where we picked up our packets for race day and then went and ate some pasta at Bucca di Beppo. We then scouted out where we needed to park the next morning so as not to stress about it in the morning. We headed back to our hotel where we showered and then rested up for the race.

My race bib

We woke up this morning, got ready and headed to the race. Of course our biggest dilemma was what the heck to wear. The weather for today was cold, starting the race around 38 degrees and supposedly finishing at 46 degrees. You of course don't want to freeze while racing, but you don't want to be steaming hot either since you are running such a long distance. We both decided on leggings and a shirt with a pullover on top and of course gloves. We got there in plenty of time and headed to our corral. Promptly at 7:00 am the race began.

 

Ready for the race

It started out cold, but by mile 3 we took off our gloves. Around mile 10 1/2 we had rain that happened off and on for several miles. During our very last mile, we were passed by 3 marathoners - that completely amazes me how those people can run a whole marathon in less time than it takes me to run a half! However, I am proud to say I finished the race in 02:16:23. According to the stats, overall I was 1,818th out of 3,067, 828th out of 1,681 women and 144th out of 295 females ages 40-44. Had it not been for stopping with Melissa in order for her to make a pit stop in the port-o-potty, I would have finished with-in my goal time. I did indeed run the whole race and honestly, felt pretty good after the race. It truly was a sense of accomplishment and I must say I am glad I did it.