Courage to Start....Faith to Finish

There were never more truer words.

This saying was on the back of some women's shirts and I can so relate.

Girlfriend's Half Marathon

October 17, 2010

Vancouver, WA

I finished it!

(13.1 MILES!)

My journey to this half marathon started back in January, you can read about it here. I have been training for this half since July, but it has been a bumpy road. It turned out that it is really hard to train for a race when it is Summer and there are so many other ways to spend your time. My running was sporadic and my heart issues had me down. The first part of September I did a stress test with my cardiologist and got fully cleared to race. My heart is all better! I'm not on any medication and I am not having any erratic heart rhythms. Thank you Lord! So no more excuses, it was time to get down to work. It was still busy with the kids and I getting back into a school routine, so I had about 4wks of good training before the race. I felt confident, but not real strong.

Saturday, 10/16

Renee and I left in the morning to drive down to Vancouver and pick up our race packets (Renee was suppose to run, but she injured her back). It was a beautiful day, so then we went into Portland and walked around The Pearl District. We should have stopped about 2hrs before we did. I wore out my legs a bit. We had a great dinner at Jake's and then went back to our hotel where Keri, Cara and Allison were already chillin' in their room. We went to bed by 10pm.

Renee, Me, Allison, Keri & Cara

Sunday, 10/17, Race begins @ 9am

I woke up on and off from 5:40am until I got up at 7. I only ended up eating a whole wheat bagel w/cream cheese and I probably should have ate a little more. We left a little after 8am. There was lots of great energy at the starting line. We met up with Keri, Cara & Allison and Renee gave us a pep talk. :-) I was on the verge of tears all morning....full of anxiety. Then it was time for the race to begin!

This is just a couple of minutes into the race.



It was a perfect day for a race and it was a beautiful course, but I didn't feel strong. I started way too fast. I was averaging between 10.20 - 10.40 pace the first couple of miles and my usual is right at 11. Then I stuck to around 11 (a little below & above) right up until mile 10. I had been feeling nauseous for quite awhile, so I made the decision to take a bathroom break thinking that if I relieved my bladder it might help my nauseousness. I didn't care about my finishing time by now. I was just praying that I would finish. That cost me around 8 minutes and Keri & Allison passing me. I sure could have used their encouragement to help me finish stronger. It was "down hill" for me the rest of the 3 miles. There were several long slow inclines that just killed you. I walked more than I ran. I was really questioning whether I was going to finish. I have not felt so defeated while running. Then around mile 12 my right foot started cramping up. My toes would curl up on their own real fast and then release. I knew that I was on the edge of getting a debilitating cramp so I tried to spread my toes out while I walked/ran and prayed that I would just be able to finish. I was telling myself that I was never going to do this to myself again. I started crossing a bridge and saw the crowd and knew the finish line was close, so I ran the rest of the way. I turned the corner to the finishing line and saw my family there. I was not expecting them. They totally surprised me! I had a smile instantly and I wanted to just stop and burst out into tears. I held the tears back and Elissa came running up and ran the rest of the way with me. I was so exhausted and sick that it was hard to be happy that I had just finished a half marathon. I really just wanted to sit and cry. It was a hard race. It humbled me.

Waving to the kids.

My goal was sub 2:30. Here are my stats:

So even though I was pretty sure that I was not ever going to run a half again. I would just stick to 12k's or less. Today I signed up for the Seattle Half on November 28th. I'm already in the running mode and I really want to do better. I know that I didn't do my best during this race. I let the mental part of the race get to me and I want to overcome that and be stronger. I don't want to wait until the Spring to try again.

I texted Darin this afternoon and said that I was thinking about signing up for the Seattle Half and he replied, "Awesome. I'll be at the finish line waiting for you."    Love that! :-)

P.S. Thank you so much Renee for driving down with me - even when you couldn't run - and being a huge support and cheerleader and taking awesome picctures! Love ya girl!!