This post has taken a long time to write- sorry I'm a bit behind. So earlier in May I actually completed my first half marathon! Since it was a big accomplishment it deserves a little synopsis of what happened. First I have to say, I have wanted to do the Mini Marathon since we moved to Indianapolis (that was seven years ago people.) And every year I always came up with an excuse. Well this year I decided that I was going to do. So I signed up with Team in Training to hopefully raise money for a worthy cause and have something that would make me more determined to finish the training program. So we started in late January. We met Saturday mornings and we started out running 30 minutes. That was a big deal because I hated running in the cold- but I proved to myself I could do it!
After awhile I got to the point that I had to come to the realization that I wasn't going to be able to make the minimum donation level that Team in Training asks you to raise, so I had to drop off their team. But I joined a local running group and kept on training. The runs were easier but really long! Without the ongoing support of the running group staff (who provided water and bagels) it would have been a miserable experience.
So the months went on, it got warmer (and thank goodness for that- there were mornings that I had frost on my eyelashes when we were done!) and the time finally came to show what all my training had done. I was slightly unsure how I would do. We trained on the relatively flat Monon Greenway and the race I signed up for was "The Race Around the Reservoir" at Geist Reservoir. Geist is hilly...and I was unsure how I would do. I made my way there, and it was incredibly humid and overcast- I could tell it would be hot. Now let me remind you that at this point the farthest I had run was 10 miles- it was going to take everything to make up the other 3.1....
So the race started- I kept up an incredibly pace (for me at least) the first 9 miles. I was averaging 10:30 per mile, which is much faster then what I normally run. (The pictures below were "borrowed" from the event photographers website). See how relaxed I looked- this had to of been early in the race.
By mile 9.5 I was tired, hot and dripping with sweat. I decided it wasn't worth being sick so I walked a little. The next 3 miles or so were the longest ever. The hills seemed like mountains and I seriously thought the finish line would never show up. This picture was probably in the last .1 miles. Seriously that .1 mile kills you. Because you think "Hey I'm done at 13 miles....but no..."
Finally I turned a corner and realized that the white tents I saw was the "party village" at the end of the race. I made it! See how excited I was to cross the finish line.
I finish in a respectable time of 2:38. Slightly slower then what I wanted to because I ended up averaging 12 minutes per mile. (See I told you I slowed down at the end). But I was still happy that I finished. Greg was going to bring the girls down to see me cross the finish line, but getting to and from the end of the race was nearly impossible and it started to rain just as he was getting them out of the car. So I had to wait until I got home to share the excitement with them. Everyone got a medal for finishing, so to Morgan that meant Mommy won the race! Here she is modeling my medal and my sunglasses.
Needless to say it was a big accomplishment to train for and finish a half marathon. It was hard but exciting. And I liked it so much that my next one is in November- training started this weekend!
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