Julie - CONGRATULATIONS!!
What a great accomplishment - you must be so proud of yourself.
Now how about a big ol' long race report - I love hearing details!
Whoo-hooo, look at you, you half-marathoner, you!
Well, I've never written a race report since I'd never run a race until Sunday, but I'll try (and apologize in advance if I bore you to tears)...
DH & I left the house at 6:30 AM, stopped to get some bagels, and then we were off to the race. DH was worried that we wouldn't be able to find parking close to the start/finish of the race (it was in Boston - not always an easy city for parking), so he was driving a little fast for my taste. I was nervous enough going to my first race, then I had to white knuckle it the whole ride.
Thankfully, it was only about a 15 min ride and since it was a Sunday morning, no one else was on the road. We arrived in one piece and guess what, there were plenty of parking spaces available!
We walked over to the registration tent and got our stuff. It was pretty cold - somewhere in the 40's. Between the cold and my nerves, the wait to start seemed pretty long. While we were waiting to cross the starting line, I really felt like I could throw up
, but once we started moving, my nerves went away. Both DH & I had to hit the port-o-potty at mile 2. There was only one port-o-potty at each water stop, so the lines were pretty long. I'd say we waited a good 5 minutes here. It was really difficult watching everyone pass us by while we waited in line. Then, when we started moving again, we realized that were were pretty much the last ones (with the exception of the few people who were still in the port-o-potty line). That was kind of a discouraging feeling, but we decided to make the best of it. As we ran by the volunteers, we'd ask which way everyone went, or we'd ask if we were winning, just silly stuff like that. The volunteers seemed to get a kick out of our silliness, so that was fun. DH had warned me before and during the race to keep to my regular pace and not overdo it. It was hard to not speed up, but I listened to him (although I hate it when he's right
). Slowly, we caught up to the pack and eventually started passing a few people here and there. By this time, the day had warmed up beautifully. It was probably in the high 50's or lower 60's during the race. Most of the race was on a road that is lined with very old, big trees, so almost the whole route was shady. The crowds and volunteers were great at cheering everyone on.
It's really amazing what a pick-me-up that can be! Around mile 10, I had to slow down due to some random aches and pains. Luckily, the aches and pains came and went and I was able to resume my regular pace. I recall hearing one of the volunteers yelling, "You have less than a mile to go!" That definitely gave me a new burst of energy. Once the finish line was in sight, I started to sprint. I don't know what got into me, but it was fun! When we crossed the finish line (2:30:38) I was on the verge of (happy) tears! We turned in our chips and got our medals, then went to stretch and walk around a bit. I swear, my calves started tightening up the second I stopped running.
We got some Gatorade and some bagels, then took our time walking back to the car. I know it's silly, but I couldn't stop looking at my medal. My DH had to hold my hand crossing the streets because I was too distracted by my lovely medal.
I don't have any race pics yet, but here's one of my DS playing with my medal:
