Tuesday, October 26, 2010

I've half marathoned!

So, I made it!  This last weekend I ran the Road to Education Half Marathon with my sister, her roommate, and my friends Laura and Marie from Minnesota.  And, we finished!  It took us 2:16, but we finished. 
And, it was awful.  I have literally never had a more horrible running experience!  All you runners out there - you know when you just have "one of those days" where nothing seems to fit together?  Your legs are going one speed and your lungs are going another speed, and everything is hard and you never find the "zone"?  Yep.  That was the race.  The WHOLE RACE!!!!  I thought I had found a zone right around mile 2, but it lasted about 4 1/2 minutes, and I was back to the type of running that was anything but enjoyable. 

I have to say though, I LOVED having to push so hard.  For the last 3 miles my sister and I just talked (out loud...got some goofy looks!) ourselves into putting one foot in front of the other, and we eventually finished.  And, I will most definitely do another one.  After all, I can only go up from here, right?!

Embarrassing story: Chris and Matt came to cheer us on, but we had told them to come late so they could see the end since it was kind of a hard race to follow.  SO - around mile 12 Chris and Matt show up with their video cameras and ridiculous amounts of energy.  And apparently, I GLARED at them.  No happy smile, no glad to see you, just a glare.  And then I said, "You guys better be at the finish line" and ran off.  I'm claiming temporary insanity due to physical duress!

SO - anyone up for a spring race?!  Ragbrai?  Another half marathon next fall?  Looking for new "goal" buddies to add to our group!

4 comments:

Matthew Stellmaker said...

RAGBRAI, yes. Running sucks. I´ll never do a half marathon, perhaps never even another 5k. However, I LOVE to bike.

Rachel Farley said...

I am so so proud of you!!

One of my goals in life is to do ONE day of Ragbrai :) So, I will join you for that one.

Running is not for me, although I would LOVE to be one. I am just not cool enough.

You are awesome and I think you are a rockstar!

Amy LaVonne said...

I'll be a goal buddy but maybe more like a garden or going on trips or something less painful than running!!! :)

The Paine Family said...

Great for you for wanting to do it again. After I ran the half I said I would never do it again (the last 5k was an eternity). It is only in the last few months that I finally considered it again. My friend Jamila and I have been doing a long run together on Sunday nights, we are up to 7 miles this week. Maybe "someday" we can do one together (: I'm believing.