My First Half-Marathon!!!

This year, I made a New Year's resolution that I fully intended to keep. I was going to run a half-marathon if it was the last thing I did. I began amping up my runs in January/February, hoping to be able to run a race in May. Unfortunately, due to some nagging joint injuries, I was unable to do that, but pushed through the summer to reach probably the best level of cardiovascular fitness that I've ever been in. I know, I don't mean to toot my own horn and make it seem like I did an ultra-marathon or an Iron Man, but for me, the girl who could not even run a mile as a child due to exercise-induced asthma, and the girl who has struggled with some pretty nasty injuries, this was a pretty huge accomplishment (especially given the fact that I have actively HATED running for most of my life!!!).

I hadn't gotten a chance, due to terrible weather on recent weekends and my reluctance to run outside by myself at 5 a.m. on weekdays, to do a run outside longer than 10/10.5 miles, so I have to admit that I was slightly nervous going into today's race. I was lucky, though, to get the reassurance and encouragement of a few friends, one a very close friend who ran a marathon a few years ago, the other one of Dan's friends who competes in triathlons (not to mention a father who has run marathons), so that I was feeling, bright and early this morning, like everything was going to be okay.

I cannot even put into words how much I have loved having my parents back in the DC area, and I have so cherished the amount of time that we have been able to spend together since they moved back. But I truly, truly appreciated their endless kindness and selflessness this weekend when they fed me lots of pre-race pasta (and blackberry crumble...YUM! That one was definitely my dad's doing), let me stay at their house, woke up at 5 to drive me (and my friend Andrew, who was also running) and were the first, and by far the most supportive, faces that I saw at the finish line. They are incredible, and I am forever indebted to them, certainly not just for this.

So, as for the race itself, I located a 2:00:00 pace group, because that was the finish time I was shooting for. However, my plans were foiled when I quickly lost the pacer, so, following several friends' pieces of wisdom, I went at my own pace, listening to my body and not making it about the time. I don't run with a watch, and I certainly was not going to on race day just to be like all of the other runners with over-the-top superwatches. This was all about having fun! I had been worried about the fact that we could not use iPods (or anything with headphones), but, strangely, I didn't struggle when I was alone with my thoughts for that long. Dan had suggested, at our (rather, my) carbalicious breakfast yesterday, that I pick a really good song and just keep repeating it in my head. That song ended up being "Rolling in the Deep" by Adele, which, I realized afterward, was the song that my mom woke up to this morning (I heard her alarm when I walked by her room), and is just a great pump-up song for me.

I was blown away by how supportive everyone was, fellow runners, neighborhood residents and race volunteers alike. There was one particularly steep hill just before the 11-mile marker, and the one thing that got me up that hill without stopping was that I heard a bunch of women screaming words of encouragement. That kind of energy just pushes you to keep going, especially since that was the time when I was surpassing my longest run and was most certainly fading. I would definitely say that the adrenaline was there in full force for the first 3-4 miles and then again for the last 2. I had not mentally ruled out stopping a couple of times to walk throughout the race, but once I was actually running, I just kept pushing that distance at which I would let myself stop, and before I knew it, the race was over!!!!! I do have to stop when I run in the morning on the treadmill, so, for me, it was a huge accomplishment not to have to stop at all.

The last two miles are probably what I remember most vividly, that 11-mile group of neighborhood cheerleaders, and then the 12-mile marker, when I definitely said, "YESSSSSSSSSS" out loud. About a quarter-mile before the finish, there was a Girl Scout troop handing out American flags to commemorate the 10th anniversary of 9/11, and, even though I was not personally affected by 9/11 because I did not lose anyone I knew, it was very poignant for me to cross the finish line with that flag in hand. I give thanks every day for the fact that I live in this country, despite its many defects, and I think the support that I felt today while I was running is a wonderful microcosmic example of the generosity of the American spirit. Crossing the finish line, that bright, shiny beacon with photographers, banners, race officials and tables piled high with cups of water awaiting just beyond it, was such an indescribably wonderful feeling, and I know that I had the broadest of smiles on my face when I crossed.

I accomplished my goal of finishing at or just under 2 hours! My official time was 2:04, but they tell you to subtract time because it is a wave start. Since my group began running 4-5 minutes after the official start, I was somewhere around the 1:59 or 2:00 mark, so I couldn't be happier with how the race turned out! I have to give a huge shout-out to all of my friends and family members who were so supportive of this dream of mine, and that positive energy was definitely one of the things that got me through this race with such flying colors. I hope this is one of many long-distance runs for me (I would love to do more half-marathons, and a marathon is definitely something that I'm eyeing sometime in the future), and this was definitely the perfect experience for my first half.

Thank you again for all of the support, now and always, and God Bless America, today and every day!
Kristen

Here's a picture of Andrew and I after the finish! I was so glad to have a friend running the race, even though he certainly ran much faster than I did!