Fashionably Fit

I did it. I ran a half marathon!

On Nov. 5, I lined up with 23,000 new friends and set off on a 13.1 mile adventure through Savannah, Ga.  I knew I could do it, as I’d run 12 miles two weeks before the half and 10 miles six days before the half.

The 10-mile run was a race through a local cemetery on the day before Halloween, so I wore a butterfly costume.

Photo courtesy of First Place Sports – Do you like how that girl is totally killing herself to not be beaten by the weirdo in the butterfly costume?

But the 13.1 — completing it wasn’t a question, but how fast I’d be able to do it certainly was. It became evident to me after about a month of training that I lacked the time and interest to really give the half my all, so I focused on just completing the distance. I finished in 2 hours and 44 minutes, which equals 13.1  12 minute, 34 second miles. I did run/walk intervals, running 3 minutes and walking 1 minute.

I walked like I got beat up for the rest of the day after the half, and I had some pain in my right foot for a few days, but that was it. Immediately afterward, I was totally in love with the sport of running and the pursuit of half marathons and wanted to sign up for another, enthralled with the idea of what I could if I really put my mind to it.

My husband takes the best race photos ever.

Then the euphoria of crossing the finish line wore off and I remembered that I really don’t like running that much. I remembered that getting up at 5:45 a.m. on a Saturday to slog through a two-hour run kind of sucks, and how much I hated the insatiable hunger that follows. I remembered that I really like Spinning and how much I want that “Million Dollar Baby” back, and that the pursuit of that doesn’t involve the urge to eat entire bags of tortilla chips. A pair of jeans that were a little tighter than they should be reminded me that I gained weight training for the half, and that made me furious.

I am really, really glad I ran a half marathon. I can honestly say that crossing the finish line was one of my proudest moments. I started to get emotional when the volunteer handed me the medal, but then they started throwing a ton of free bullshit at me and I ended up wandering around with my arms full of Cytomax, bottled water and these disgusting Snickers “energy bars” with a bewildered look on my face until my husband found me.

Training for and completing a half marathon is an experience I 100 percent recommend to anyone considering it. I am certain it is something I will do again. But for now, I’m really glad it’s over.

Posted November 15th, 2011 under Fitness. RSS 2.0 feed. Leave a response, or trackback.