That's me crossing the finish line in Eau Claire's Half Marathon, Sunday May 1, 2011. It was cold, windy, raining, and practically snowing...not exactly stellar conditions for my first stab at a half marathon! The route was mostly along the river, which in nice weather would have been quite beautiful-unfortunately the fierce wind and cold took all the beauty out of it for me! All that being said..weather and all...running in this race was frankly one of my biggest accomplishments-EVER. And I am including child birth in this equation! I told my Dad afterwards that outside of giving birth this was probably the hardest thing I have ever done. I trained for it. I could have prepared better, but ultimately I was ready to do it and I was excited to do it. I am glad that I mentally prepared for it too, picturing myself a thousand times running the route, running up Carson Park hill to get to the finish line. I am so thankful for all of my family and friends that supported me-running a half marathon was a pretty big goal for me. I have never been a distance runner and up until about 2 years ago, I really didn't run AT ALL! So to go from really struggling to run a full mile without stopping to accomplish my goal of 13.1 miles without stopping was a really big moment for me. It sounds corny but you really do have to dig deep and find the willpower to keep going, even though it hurts and you are tired. I was committed to doing it and I did it. For that I am proud of myself. I was so lucky to have my friends and family that cheered me (and Sara!) along the way....my parents faced the cold and took me to the start, watched Sara and I take off at 8am, and they were waiting for me at the finish line. The girls (Ladies Aide) had signs and all, cheering me along-at the 3 mile, 6 mile, 10 mile, and the dreaded corner before heading into Carson Park! Joe and the girls were amazing cheerleaders too-it was freezing cold and he had those two bundled up and cheered me on between miles 9 and 10...I loved it! They found me three times in that mile and seeing them filled my heart, it honestly did. Joe, Katey and Makenna also watched me cross the finish line-and this was truly something because Joe had to push both girls up the Carson Park hill in the stroller and that is just NOT easy! One of the best parts was when I was almost to the end and I saw Sara running to meet me...she had finished her half marathon and was waiting for me to finish...she ran the very last .1 mile with me and got me over that finish line. What a great moment and what a great friend!
Overall it was a great experience-a friend from work wants to meet up so I can tell her my "race story"....so I think I am going to write it down too-because I don't know if I will do this again, but each race will be different and I don't want to forget my very first/or only one! I will save the details of that for my actual journal and not bore everyone else! After the race we all had a good time at the Laber's house...food and drinks...friends and fun-I don't think it gets much better! Other than some very sore knees I feel good today. I am planning to treat myself and take the week off from running:)
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