Can't Believe I Did It!

Sunday was the 10th Annual Mercedes Marathon and Half-Marathon. I had set a goal back in August to complete the half-marathon. I began training in September. I was pretty suprised by how good my training progressed. By November, I was up to running 6 miles, and I was able to complete the Vulcan 10K. I had a small bump in the road at the end of November. I started having some pretty bad foot pain and swelling. I went to a couple of doctors, a chiropractor and physical therapist. Needless to say, my training was interrupted and I went about six weeks without being able to run. Even with that, I had registered for the race, and I was determined to do it. I could have been much more prepared than I was and I knew my pace would not be as good as it had been, but I was very excited about the experience. My plan was to run what I could, keep my heartrate steady and walk the elevations because I knew there were going to be hills. Here's how the day went... excitement, anticipation, running, enjoying the experience and seeing all the people cheering us on, first hill--not too bad, running some more, starting the inclines---and they seem to keep going, running some more, repeating that a few more times, starting to feel some pain--need to stretch, believe it or not even more hills, finally we are down the last major hill---but my body is just about DONE, lots of pain at this point, walking and telling myself that its OK to finish walking--at least I am finishing, coming close to the finish line, I see my family and could not be happier, seeing them and knowing the finish line is around the corner I muster enough energy to run through the finish line, major relief---I am done!!, excitement and a rush of emotion and energy to have just accomplished such a feat. That just gives you a glimpse into all that was going through my body and head during the day.

I ended up finishing in 3:11:57 and my average pace was 14:40.

Two of my handsome fans who came to cheer me on.

This is my sweet friend Jenny. She has run 9 out of the 10 mercedes half-marathons. She was in my running small group this past fall. She has been such a support through all this, and I enjoyed getting to spend part of the day with her.