Half-Marathon...the Aftermath

Done!

2 hours, 55 minutes, 28 seconds.

Not a world record, not last either.

I'll take it.

I got to run with my friend Chrisy.  This is her 9th or 10th 1/2 marathon.  She considered this a training run because in January she is taking the Disney Goofy Challenge.  That is a 1/2 on Saturday, and a full Marathon on Sunday.  (She's goofy)  We also ran with Angie.  But she took off after mile 2 and finished about 15 minutes ahead of us. (Show off)

The first 7 miles were great.  We were doing a good pace that would have us finishing the race in under 2:45, but there were lots of hills.  Hills suck the life out of you.  Also, I had to pee.  At that point, I would have rather peed my pants than stop to use a porta potty.  Plus, there were lines.  But again, hills suck the life out of you and trying to not think about having to go to the bathroom only makes you think about going to the bathroom.  It also became clear that our pace had slowed, and 2:45 wasn't going to happen.

Around mile 9, I got some Gatorade and found a bunch of port a potties with no lines.  I haven't had Gatorade in years because I think it's gross.  But it tasted wonderful, and helped my get through the next few miles.  But there were still more hills.  Stupid freeking hills.

Around mile 11, I was struggling again.  Nothing was hurting, but I had a problem keeping 1 foot going in front of the other.  I did a lot more walking than I wanted to.

Around mile 12, I was determined to run all the way in to the end, but it was a lot harder than I wanted it to be.  More walking.  Except when I saw the race photographers.  I didn't want to have any pictures of me walking.  But we did run in across the finish line.  I was glad to be done, but I felt like I had to puke.  But I didn't.

After you finish,they give you your medal.  (YAY!)  Then water, Gatorade, chocolate milk, and a bunch of different food.  Too much food actually.  I couldn't hold it all in my hands, so I had to carry it in my shirt.

We met up with Angie and our friend Crystal.  Crystal wasn't running the race, but she was on hand to be our cheering section.  She did the entire route on her bike with a "quiver" full of funny posters, stopping ahead of us to ring her cowbell, shake her pom poms and scream her head off as we went by.  She's awesome!

We made our way back to the van, drove back to the hotel, showered, napped and then head to The Melting Pot to recoup all those calories we left on the race course.  Our friends Noel and Becca met us there too.  It was awesome.  We quite possibly might have been on the verge of being kicked out...not quite sure.  We definitely had a blast, and laughed a TON.  Fondue is fun...provided they give you enough dippy bits.

Back to my hotel room, all alone this time.  Iced my foot, coated my legs in Bio-Freeze, and fell asleep.

Will I do it again?  I'm saying no.  I feel really good running up to about 6 miles.  Anything beyond that is just too hard.  6.2 miles is a 10k, and is the distance you run in an Olympic length Triathlon. So I'm 95% sure that a 10k will be the longest distance I run from now on.  But I will confess, I'm easily manipulated, and I really like getting medals.  So who knows...

Now, I need to leave this quiet, clutter free sanctuary that is the Residence Inn St. Louis and head back to Richmond.  I'm going back to my children, who probably didn't realize I was gone because their Dad spoils them when I'm not there.  I'm going back to my husband, who while baffled by my desire to do a 1/2 Marathon in the first place, has been incredibly encouraging and supportive.

Can't wait to get home.  But I enjoyed this while I was here.