My First (Half) Marathon Expierence.

This is a momentous occasion for me. I am not a natural born runner. I am short, with short legs. My strides are very short, my heart races, and I usually last only 10 minutes before I want to pass-out. I have never enjoyed running. Through-out the years I have tried to run. I usually start off strong but after the first day, my lungs are burning and that is a strong signal to me that it is completely unhealthy. Last year, I broke my leg by doing nothing but running. No, I didn't fall, I didn't trip, and I was wearing good running shoes. I was just running and my leg started to hurt. Who would have thought.

So since I had paid for the half marathon last year before breaking my leg I begged and pleaded to the marathon people to transfer the entry fee to this year. Never in a million years did I think that they would do it (I had to do something to make me feel better about wasting $60 not to mention the Dr. bills and MRI bill that came along with the broken leg). Well, someone wants me to run because they sent me a certificate for a free entry to the half marathon for this year. I had to get my money's worth so I started to train AGAIN. As the weeks went by, I got more nervous for my leg and more confident that maybe I could do this. I didn't train as hard as I did last year but I enjoyed it much more. I was so proud of myself the day that I ran 11 miles. I couldn't believe it. 11 MILES. Do you know how far that is??????

The morning came. I was extremely nervous. I asked Kris to say a prayer for us (well, me mostly) and off we went. The race started and Kris was off. We were both tackling our own demons alone. At first I was being passed by everyone which was a bit frustrating but I stuck to my game plan. As the miles ticked away I found my little group of people who were running the same race as myself. I would pass them then they would pass me. On and on that went until the finish. I felt a sort of connection with them, too bad I didn't know any of their names.

On my mile 8 (full marathon mile 22) I was passed by the pace car and the leader of the marathon. Now that was totally crazy. He had run 22 miles in 1:55. I couldn't believe it. I knew that I would be passed by marathoners but to actually have it happen was weird. I can say that I ran with the winner for all of 1/15th of a second. He passed me in just one of his long strides. A few minutes later I was passed by another one. Those natural marathoners are amazing.

As the finish got closer I got more excited and more nervous because the tendons around my knees were starting to hurt. I slowed down a bit and kept going. Then I saw that I was on mile 12 and the time was 2:35. I was so excited. My whole goal was to finish ( and hopefully before Kris who was running the full marathon) around 3 hours. I knew that I could do it. Soon I was running down the last stretch and the clock was reading 2:53. I had started about 2 minutes after the official start so my official chip time was 2:51:51. What a feeling to finish. I was so proud of myself. For someone who never in a million years thought they could run a 10K let alone a half marathon I felt that was the best time ever.

Would I do it again? YES. Do I want to run a full marathon? NO. I recognize my limits. I honestly have no desire to run a full marathon. That would be torturous. But I am currently looking for another half.