OUCH!! I survived my first HM. (Read 1108 times)

(sorry this is a bit long....) Well, it's done. I cannot believe how much fun I had. I went into this race being so nervous and unsure of what to expect and now that it is all over, I can't believe what all my worries were about. The day went smoothly and all the smiling faces made it even better. The weather was ideal, sunny, cool, I think almost 50. There were about 1300 runners (I heard someone say). After a loud starting gun which I think was actually a mini-cannon we all were off. The timing chips were velcro ankle bands and not the chips to lace onto shoes like I was expecting. The course was HILLY. I was a little in shock about that but I kept up with my running partner. Everyone was super nice and in a great mood. They had the course well marked and the police were there to keep traffic out of the way. There was one angry motorist who didn't appreciate having to wait as we all ran by, but the officer told her to be patient...and then smiled. I didn't carry a bottle of water, or jelly beans (like I thought I would) but there was more than enough water offered during the race. I mastered jogging and sipping, went down the wrong pipe one time (coordination is not a strong point for me) . The race was fun, my running partner and I chatted most of the way. Around mile 9 or 10 I was split from my running partner. I am not good at pacing myself so I "latched on" to another runner, until he stopped at the next water break. Then I picked someone else, and then they sped up and I wasn't about to play that game...so I put on my headphones and found that I was okay with pacing myself. At mile 11 I got excited and picked up my pace and that is when my right quad yelled at me. It hurt, but not enough to slow down. At mile 12 I sped up a tiny bit more and then in the final stretch with people yelling to finish strong, I realized the home stretch was UP HILL. OMG...who thought that would be okay in planning a HM?? Well, there was nothing more for my legs to offer at that point so I plodded along at the same pace I was going. I looked up at the finish line and the clock, and was VERY VERY happy to see 1:58:46. I DID IT, I was done. I crossed the line, walked to the side, removed my ankle band and then realized that my legs were not as happy as I was. But after getting a cup of water and looking around I had such a cool feeling come over me, I didn't mind the pain in my legs. Everyone was so happy, there were people everywhere, runners smiling and enjoying the moment and the victorious feeling of being done. It was awesome. After a painful walk down some steps I stretched and then went and checked out the post race munchies. There were cookies, pizza, bananas, muffins, rolls, pretzels and lots to drink. I had a slice of pizza and a cookie. I was part of a relay team of 7 women, we all ran the 13.1 miles and then the top 5 runners' times from each team were added to get a final time. In our age group the team I was on came in second place. I was really happy and shocked to find out that I was included in the top 5 times. I hope there aren't any runner "rules" about when a runner can get a 13.1 sticker - but tomorrow I want to go and get one to show the world that I did it!! One down and although I had never planned on running a HM, now that I have, odds are that I'll probably do it again. But for now I'll get back to working on my goal of a 21 minute 5k...and continue training for the Broad Street Run (10 miles) in May. To top the day off....When I walked in the door at home with a smile on my face, my husband smiled back and told me how proud he was of me. Of course my 5 year old brought me back down to earth by asking me if I won. Ugh!

Congratulations Mississippi! You not only smashed your goal of 2:15 , but you went under 2? That..is...Awesome! Great PR! How did you finish compared to women of your age-group? And now go get that sub-21 5k. I just missed Sat. {21:27}

You ran an excellent race today! Congrats, Miss'sippi! d

WTG Michelle!!! Gotta love kids!!! AWESOME FINISH TIME!!! Hey you should come up this way and run Lehigh Valley HM (formerly known as the Road Runners half)! But if not see ya in May at the Broad Street run

Off tipic ? for ya Michelle. I see you have a 5 year old, when will he be 6? The twins will be 6 this July.

Hey well done on your first HM! You did brilliantly. Claire xxx

ttmalek - Your time was amazing!!! 1:26 ! I would die trying to keep up with you. Congratulations. What is your best HM time anyhow? What did you think of this course? My friend said it was a tough, did you think so?

Chris UK - I wouldn't be me if I didn't worry. I am always thinking I have gotten in over my head and the stress of thinking that way tends to gnaw at my nerves. It does go away after doing something a few times. I don't stress out anymore about running 5k races, or about soccer games. But I promise you, I went through all of this with those events, at least the first few times.