Half Marathon Recap

Sorry for the delay in this post everyone. Blogger was down and I couldn't post! Frustration.

As everyone knows, yesterday was the Minneapolis Half Marathon. Here is my promised recap.

A friend of mine (Cristina, pictures of her to come) was picking me up at 6 a.m. She was running the race too but we hadn't trained together or anything. I didn't really want to head there alone so when she offered to pick me up, it was perfect.

I got up at 5 a.m. so I'd have lots of time to wake up and gather my thoughts.

I had my trusty peanut butter toast breakfast. Figured this would leave me semi-full without the fear of sideaches cereal might pose.

I also had a new flavor of yogurt I hadn't tried. Cherry Vanilla. It had chunks in it! Yuck (I'm not a fan) so I only had a few bites.

Cristie was nice and prompt and we headed downtown right at 6 a.m. We were both a little anxious but ready to take on the race.

I opted for a new tank I had recently bought. I was a little worried about being cold, but it turned out to be a beyond perfect outfit.

We had the plan to start the race together but if one of us had to stop and the other wanted to go on, we would separate. No big deal.

The cool thing that I hadn't seen at races before is that we lined up in the beginning depending on what we thought our pace would be. So the 7-minute milers were at the front. Cristie and I hung at the back with the 10:40 pacer. A nice girl named Tina was holding a sign with her 10:40 pace and that would give us a finish of 2 hours 20 minutes. I would be happy with that time. So we hung by her and would just see how it goes.

And we were off!

(Note: I did not run with my camera. I had so many pictures I wanted to take along the route, but I just didn't have a place for it! I did the best I could to record it!)

The route was kind of a fun one. We started at the Guthrie and then headed north toward Broadway Avenue in Northeast Minneapolis. Then we headed south via Boom Island and then crossed the Stone Arch Bridge. By the time we got to the Stone Arch we were at Mile 5. We just had to head down West River Road 4 miles and then back 4.1 miles.

Cristie and I kept checking on eachother. We were running ahead of the 10:40 pacer, but we were good. We kept running. Both of us enjoying the pace. I had my headphones on and had plenty of jams in my ear. But I took off my headphones every now and then to chat. The race was zooming right along.

At Mile 7 we hit the hill. The one I'd been dreading. I told Cristie that we HAD to run the whole thing. She was game.

We did it, and when I got to the top, I had one sweet reward waiting for me: my friends were there!

Here they are, waiting for me. How nice! When I saw them I was sooo happy!

Here's the picture Nikki got of me running by. I'm the one waving my arms. Basically saying, thanks for coming! I really was so happy to see them! Gave me the extra boost I needed.

At about Mile 8 (and after the renewed energy of seeing my amigos) I started to think, Hmmm could I run this whole thing? We hadn't stopped yet and I was feeling OK. I had a bit of a blister started on my arch, but I was feeling pretty determined.

So I turned to Crisite and said "How do you feeling about running this whole thing?" With wide eyes she turned to me and said the words I needed to hear: "I'm in if you're in."

And we were off.

Of course if one of us had to stop we would have, but we had a renewed sense of determination. And I kept having the mindset, "Well...I've gone this far..." And we just kept running.

By Mile 10. I was hurting. My arches were on fire. My knees ached. My hips hurt. I was tired.

But we kept going. I tried not to think of the distance and just focus on the road infront of me.

And by the time we reached Mile 12 there was no stopping. I didn't care how bad I hurt. I didn't care how long I was going to hurt after this race. I wasn't stopping.

If it was a training race I obviously would have stopped but I kept thinking, "this is what I trained for. If I hurt afterward, it's worth it!"

We did walk through the water stops and those stops saved my life, but we started up right after going through the water stops.

At about Mile 12.5 we hit a huge hill on our way to the Guthrie. But people who had already finished were giving us some encouraging words. "Keep going!" "You're almost there!" It was just what I needed to hear to keep going.

So we kept running. Up a hill and right at the top, my friend Nick was there to cheer us on! He even ran with us for a little bit. I couldn't help but smile!

(I'm in the white tank here)

Then I saw the rest of my friends cheering me to the finish. I was too tired to wave my arms like a lunatic this time, but still grateful they were still there!

Then I saw my mom and her boyfriend. Cheering me on! I was happy to see that they had made it! I didn't get a picture with them though, boo.

And then we were done! Our names were being announced as we finished and I can't even describe the relief and amazement I felt when I heard "Sarah Howard" as I crossed the finish line!

I had done it. I had run the whole thing. Something I never thought I would be able to accomplish, it was all over. I was so relieved and very, very proud of myself.

Post race. I LIVED!

With my hard earned medal.

With my running partner Cristie!

Final results:
Total Time: 2 hours 20 minutes 11 seconds
Mile pace: 10 minutes 43 seconds
Place: 2289 out of 3369

I am so happy with my final results and how I placed!

The race itself was absolutely amazing. While this whole experience was extremely difficult, I wouldn't trade it for the world. Training for a running event and finally being able to call myself a runner have been life goals for me that I've now completed! I still can't believe it.

Post-race I had a hard time getting around and was definitely limping. I took it easy though and went to watch some friends play in a softball game.

Watching softball with my race cheerleading squad. What a gorgeous day!

I took today off of work to recover. I had a hard time getting around and really just needed the day to rest. I'm so glad I did. The way my legs felt this morning vs. later in the day is like night and day.

And those blisters that almost crippled me during the race, they're now gone and healed. Wow, that was quick. So I'm hoping to be back to my normal self by tomorrow.

And as far as exercise, I'm taking today and tomorrow off, and then it's back to the workout routine for me. But I'm excited to get back to other things than running. Tennis, a long bike ride, and some serious elliptical time are all on my to-do list this week. And they're activities I've missed while training for this run.

I still love running, but I think my distance runs are going to be on-hold for a little bit.

That is, until I start training for the Twin Cities 10 mile Oct. 3rd! It never ends...

:-)