First Half Marathon. The Recap.

After 12 weeks of official training I can finally say that I have completed a half marathon. I've been a runner for quite some time but I had never run a half before Saturday.

Most of my training this year was in Pensacola FL but then in September we moved to Virginia.  We moved during week three of my training. So the last nine weeks of my training have been done mostly solo with the exception of long runs. I found a member of our church who is a fabulous runner and he was willing to help me train. He was orginially training to run the full marathon but an achilles injury sidelined him for a while and he decided to bump down the the half. I had once explained to him that my biggest fear about the half was running it alone. He quickly asked if he could not only run it with me but help pace me. I jumped at that chance.

My flat phat race outfit. Though I didn't end up wearing the earband.

Favorite race sign of the day, seen at mile 1; "You have trained for this longer than Kim Kardashian was married!"

The first six miles flew by. When we crossed the chip timers marker at the 10k mark I was really surprised by our split. It was 53:05 which is way faster than any 10k race I have ever run. I tried really hard not to let that get in my head though. Mile 8 came and brought my wall. I really struggled. I felt like I was barely picking up my feet but I wouldn't let myself stop. I was trying to think about an awesome woman in Pensacola. She likes to yell "fake it til you make it," and "mind over body." Right around mile 10 my friend asked how I felt. I told him "my wall was back there, but I'm over it now!" And we shared a laugh.

My "pacer" and I around mile 11. That is my official "fake it til you make it" face!

For the last 5k my awesome pacer kept uplifting me and telling me how well I was doing. I had set my orginial goal to run it in under 2:15. My pacer however challenged me to 2:05. When the last turn came in view it brought the finish line. The finish line was literally all down hill. And man that was a painful downhill.

Finish line view. All downhill. (I am not in this picture!)

We started 16 mins behind the first group of runners. When the finish time came into clear view I struggled to do the math. I decided not to even try and just wait until I crossed. As I clicked off my Soleus GPS 2.0 watch I started laughing hysterically. I couldn't believe that not only had a I finished in until the 2:05 but under 2 hours. My official time reported yesterday at 1h 55m 17s.

Here are my splits as my watch recorded them:

1-8:27

2-8:27

3-8:27

4-8:27

5-8:34

6-8:34

7-8:34

8-9:05

9-8:42

10-9:05

11-9:05

12-9:14

13-9:05

last 0.2-8:00 (average pace)

Finisher!

I did it! I have trained. I have raced. I have conquered the half marathon.

My husband bought me this awesome jacket at the post-race expo.

I feel truly blessed to say I am a half marathon finisher. I prayed a lot about that race. I was really worried. I took the time to make sure to thank God  about how well things went. I couldn't have done it with out the Good Lord and training. Oh and my fabulous pacer friend! (He wanted to stay unnamed, can you tell?!)

How was your weekend? Any big races or events to share?

God Bless.