I RAN A HALF MARATHON!!!

24 hours later and I am still on cloud 9. I can’t believe that I ran a half marathon! I’ll try and give my best play by play race report but to be totally honest all the miles blur together.

Morning
I woke up at 6am and somehow managed to choke down a bagel with peanut butter. I felt nauseous and didn’t want to eat anything but I knew I had to. I also drank a couple cups of water. My friend and her boyfriend picked me up at 7:15 and we were on our way to the race. I found out that her boyfriend is a photographer and he planned on snapping photos of us along the way!

8am - 8:30am
I decided not to take my hand held water bottle with me. It was really cold (upper 30s I believe) and holding the bottle was making me even more cold. In retrospect I wish I brought my hand held (I will discuss more later). I immediately went to the first porta-john and let me tell you it was freeeeeeeeeezing in there! Next the 3 of us walked over to the start and we stood in line for the bathroom. Around 8:20 we took a picture at the start. A few mins before the start my WW buddy that I haven’t had a chance to meet yet spotted me (she came to watch the race and also snapped pics of me along the way!!). It was great to meet Colleen and seeing her along the route really made me happy. For some reason my friend likes to start closer to the front then we really should be. I already decided I was not going to run with her because she had plans to run 11 min/miles and from past experience I know she likes to start off too fast.

Miles 1 – 5
In the very beginning I kept asking myself what the hell have I gotten myself into?! I couldn’t get into a groove and I was getting really annoyed with all of the people passing me. I eventually got into a groove and was just chugging away. I loved having my garmin with me although I probably looked at it too much. These first 5 miles were down a narrow bike path. There wasn’t much to see except for trees and leaves. At the end of the path there was a porta-john and I stopped to use it. I am so glad I did bc I found out that was the only porta-john! We then ran down a hill across a train track. Turns out that a few years ago they had to stop the marathon for a train to cross! That must have pissed a bunch of people off since it’s a popular Boston qualifying race but I guess they deducted the time they had to wait for the train to pass. Only in upstate NY lol.

Miles 6 – 8.5
These miles were on the local streets. The streets weren’t closed and they had cones setup in the street. I ran in the street on the inside of the cones but a bunch of people were running on the sidewalks. I wonder what was the correct thing to do? I assume the street? I saw my friend Colleen and she snapped a couple good pics of me. I kept telling myself I was going to run the race with a smile and I made a point to give a great big smile to the photographers. I started to pass a bunch of people at this point. I also realized that I was running several miles under 11 min/miles which surprised me.

Miles 8.5 – 11
Around 8.5 miles we jumped onto the last bike path that went along the Hudson river. I ran this path before and I knew it was 5 miles and I knew that on the other end was the finish line. At this point my friend that I went to the race with was right in front of me. Still not much to look at just leaves and trees and the occasional glimpse of the Hudson river. I was beginning to feel fatigued and my legs were getting crampy. I was stopping at every water station but I don’t think I drank enough – this is why I think I will bring my water bottle next time. Miles 10 – 11 were mentally hard. My legs were hurting and I wanted it to be over. There weren’t any spectators at this point and I needed some support. Oh wait, I think the photographer was at mile 10 so I put my glasses on to of my head and gave a great big smile!

Miles 12 – 13
As soon as I saw mile 12 I tried to speed it up as much as I could but my legs were shot. I stopped for a brief moment to stretch but that did nothing. Around this point we were in an area that had spectators and they were cheering me on saying that I was almost there. As I was approaching the mile 13 marker I realize everyone is cheering and clapping and looking at me. I thought why are all of these people so happy to see me?! Turns out the winner of the MARATHON was right behind me and they were cheering for him. A bunch of people on the sidelines were yelling at me to get out of his way and get to the right. Like seriously as I type this I am getting more and more pissed. I paid my registration to run this freaking race and why is this dude so much more important then me?! I understand what he did was amazing but I think it’s pretty damn amazing that I ran 13.1 miles. They had changed the banner over the finish to the marathon banner and they had red tape up for him to run across – oh how I wish I had more energy to break that tape before him LOL. They didn’t even announce my name because they were too busy talking about the marathon guy. I am so mad that they took my thunder away!

My garmin was off from the race. It said I ran 13.16 miles in 2:25:xx. Here are my splits:

mile 1 - 11:36
mile 2 - 11:10
mile 3 - 11:09
mile 4 - 10:58
mile 5 - 10:52
mile 6 - 10:55
mile 7 - 11:15
mile 8 - 10:59
mile 9 - 10:56
mile 10 - 11:23
mile 11 - 11:06
mile 12 - 10:53
mile 13 - 10:31
.16 - 8:48

I got my medal and immediately found a spot to stretch. My legs were on fire and cramping like crazy. My friend Colleen found me and we chatted for a bit. I was then in search of food and I grabbed whatever I could fit into my hands!

My official time is 2:26:21 / 11:12 min/mile.

When I registered for this race I put my estimated finish time as 2:50. I didn’t post my goal time because I didn’t want to set myself up for failure but my hope was to finish in 2:45! So finishing under 2:30 is just freaking amazing!!!!!!!

POST RACE
I was pretty much dead to the world a few hours after the race. My feet were hurting so bad and I had a pounding headache. I laid on the couch for most of the day and tried to nap. Today my legs are very sore. Mostly my hip area. I am stretching like a crazy woman. Any tips? When is it safe to go out for a short easy run?

I cannot wait for my next half in March. I would love to beat my current half marathon PR!

Thinking maybe, possibly running the full marathon next year?! OMG Did I just say that? We shall see what the next year brings.

I will be back later with pics!