Run Half Marathon—Check

I was feeling some guilt that I have not told you how my race went. But I wanted to be very clear that I am NOT blogging every day this month and nothing says that better than skipping November 1st. Really I thought about trying to post each day, but I have a vacation coming up and nothing throws me for a loop like traveling. So, to reduce my stress level, I'm sticking to the status quo, but kuddos to all those who are going 30 for 30.

Back to the race—

It is finished. I have run a half marathon. I feel great about doing something that I never even planned to do in the first place. (ha.) Let's do some highs and lows.

Highs:

• I ran almost the entire time. (Really, we only walked a few minutes, and that is because McKenzie needed a slight break. Ankle pain I think. She was a champ.)
  
• I got to run with McKenzie. I really enjoy running with her and it was great to do this thing together.
  
• My knees only hurt on the intermittent downhill at the end. The hard downhill was at the beginning (before I was sore) and I was so grateful.
  
• I felt really good the whole race. I wanted to run faster, but I kept my pace with McKenzie. (This probably saved me from wearing myself out early.)
  
• I only took off at the end, because it actually hurt more to run slowly than to push through and finish strong.
  
• I ran it in 2:33:23. That is under a 12 minute pace. (Which was a tentative goal.)
  
• The costume I picked was perfect. It helped keep my warm in the beginning and did not get in the way at all. The glasses actually kept my eyes from watering, although I know I looked somewhat comical.
  
• Did I mention that the race is over??

Lows:

• COLD. It was FREEZING. The heated tent at the start was okay. But we had to be there so early. We had hours to wait.
  
• We decided to start with the third wave. But they start 40 minutes later. My cute family was waiting for a while at the finish line.
  
• Because of snow, they moved the start down the mountain a couple miles, but to make up for it, they added an extra part where they had us run up and down a stretch of road. Really boring, but we did get to see other runners that we wouldn't have on a straight course.
  
• It was hard. When I finished, Tyler asked me how it was and my first words were, "Terrible." In retrospect, it wasn't that bad, and I should have had a better attitude at the end there. Oh well.

Q&A:

Would I run another?? Probably not. But I didn't plan to run one in the first place, so who really knows? 

Am I still running? Yes. McKenzie and I have been running this week again, and we have a race next Saturday. (A 3.3 mile run.)

How long was I sore? Well, I made it through all the trunk-or-treating that Saturday night just fine. I was really sore at church the next day and looked like a fool each time I got up from sitting. Monday I could still feel the soreness in my legs on the stairs, but by Tuesday, I was right as rain. (What is so right about rain anyway?)

Do you want pictures? Of course you do. What a silly question. Please excuse my ridiculous face in ALL of these. (And they were the good pictures.) Apparently I should not be photographed after running.

Tyler and the kids were so sweet to come to the finish line and cheer me on. Especially since they had been there a while. But I'm sure they were amused by watching all the costumes come in. June told me that they had seen 9 Thing 1 and Thing 2's. Waldo was possibly the next most popular costume. When I came in the announcer said he should have been counting. Okay, but really we weren't Waldo, we were Wenda...you really have to distinguish. Wait, here I am rambling on when I am supposed to be showing you pictures. Tyler caught me running by. I am cheering because I saw the girls and him.

Then he went down past the finish to wait for me. This is when I noticed him.

McKenzie joined me moments later. We were so happy to be done. And so proud.

And don't forget my cool medal. I didn't get a picture of the shirt, but it has the same sort of picture.

I don't even have a bucket list, but I am pretty satisfied to have run a half marathon. It wasn't fast, but I did it. We'll see if we can pick up the pace a bit on our next race.