My First Half Marathon Race Recap!!

The day began a chilly 30 degrees. It was not surprise to me to see it snowing!!! For a minute I got worried then I remembered that it did not matter what the weather was doing, I had a goal to accomplish. I wanted to finish my very first half marathon in under 2 hours. I was not sure if it would even be possible. My longest run during training was 10 miles. So I spent last night and all morning worried and tense. My stomach was in knots, I had trouble sleeping the night before… I was a nervous wreck! I did not anticipate being that nervous before my race. I had run 2 5ks last year and was never too nervous, but the looming long distance of 13.1 miles was lingering over my head.

My Peanut and I pre race!

As I stood at the starting line squished like a sardine I began to feel apprehensive. The self doubt was there and I was freezing, I began to wonder why in the world was I doing this?

You can see the snow coming down in this one haha!

I started to remember a year ago, and how much I weighed, and how far I have come. And I remembered why I was here and why I was running. I had been training for this day for months and I was not going to let some silly snow and cold stop me! The first few minutes of a race I am always annoyed. It is so crowded and people are all bumping into you and it is just ugh! But it evened out pretty quickly and I got into my rhythm and jammed out to my tunes.

After 20 minutes I forced myself to stop and walk for 1 minute. It helped my legs stay fresh and for a moment I looked at my HRM and thought damn I am not even close to being done. I got back to running and just kept playing out in my mind, why am I doing this? I started to wonder if I could even finish… But I put on one of my motivational songs and reminded myself that I could rock this out. I thought about my baby girl waiting for me at the finish line and I reminded myself I needed to run to her, for her.

The next few miles were good. I stopped and got water and kept going. I thought I would have to stop and use the potty to pee but I saw the line and remembered my goal. I told myself I could handle it and kept running. Around mile 6 the 10K runners broke away to end and I looked longingly at them and wondered why I had not just signed up for that! Then I remembered that I was half way done! I was at about 55 minutes so I knew I was making good time and I told myself I had to keep going at this pace if I wanted to push and make it sub 2.

And so the next few miles went. I kept saying to myself come on you got this, you can do this. I started thinking about all of my tweeps and fellow bloggers and remembered you all were cheering for me! I was sad it was too wet to bring my phone I probably could have used a motivational tweet or 2 along the way. But I just kept going. Around mile 10 I took my last walk break and looked at my HRM. 1 hour and 32 minutes. I began to panic a bit! Then I remembered my last 5K and setting my new best PR of 21:40 I knew I could finish the race sub 2 if I just pushed my legs a little faster.

I was tired. I was cold. My sneakers were soaked. I had gone from being cold and wet, to hot, to cold again! It was rough and there were a few times I wanted to give up. But I kept going and it seemed every time I wanted to quit, something pushed me forward and I knew I had to finish. And then I heard the best sound ever. It was the cheering coming from the finish line! It was a little far away but I could hear it over my music and I began to smile inside and out. I began to sprint, and I felt like it was taking forever to get to that finish line! I could hear people cheering, there were runners who had already finished cheering for us and I just kept pushing. And I did it! Make sure you check out the video my sister got!

 There I am zooming by :)

 I got my medal!!! It is my first one ever :)

My super supportive family! Without these 2 I could not have done it or had the strength to continue!!! They waited for me in the snow and are always at every race cheering me on.

 My official finishing time 1:59:41! Yes I am a picture freak and always snap a pic of the time sheets haha plus its hard to even see with the crowds surrounding them!

I just barely made it sub 2! I squeaked by thank goodness I had the energy to sprint the last half mile!!!

The celebrating after wards me and my awesome supportive sister who braved the cold and snow with her daughter and boyfriend to come cheer me on!!!

I feel so tired and so sore but yes it was so worth it!!!!! It is hard to believe that last year at this time I weighed 252 pounds and could not imagine running a mile let alone 13.1!! Now I am already looking forward to doing more half marathons and hopefully running my first full marathon by the end of the year!

Today I realized a lot of things but most of all, that anything really is possible if you set yourself a goal and work your ass off to achieve it!