Saturday, March 27, 2010

The Riverton Half Marathon

So...... I ran my first Half Marathon in 2.21.38!! Not too bad for my first official half! :)

Ok, so here's how it went:

It was a little chilly at the start. The car said it was 31º and the wind wasn't blowing much, it was a little cloudy though. But, when we were getting ready to start the sun came out and the weather was GREAT!
Miles 1-2: I started out pretty good. I wasn't TOTALLY warmed up, even after running a 1 mile warm up. It takes me about 2.5 miles to get in my groove when it comes to running long distances. I started out with my warm up jacket on, but I knew that I would ditch it at the first water stop. When I was getting close to mile 3 we were running down hill and I was sweating bullets. I don't know why, but I had sweat in my eyes and everything. Everything was flat until mile 2.5 and then we started going down hill.

Mile 3-5: I hit my groove, I ditched my jacket and I even did it while running. J got me a camelbak to run with since I HATE having things around my waist while I run. So, when I ditched my jacket I had to take off the camelbak, my jacket, and my watch all while running. Why you may ask? Cause I'm weird like that. I can't say "I ran 13.1 miles" if I stopped. SOOOO...I did all that and put the camelbak and watch back on threw my jacket at the water stop and kept going. We went down hill for a little while, went up a couple little hills, and ran flat for a while.

Mile 6-7: This is when it got fun. Mile 6 was nice and flat and then I see the mile 7 sign and look up.....HOLY CRAP! You want me to run up that?! It was a pretty steep hill. I kept on and figured that if I didn't look at the hill it wouldn't be so bad. So, I kept my head down and took it one step at a time. I reached the top of the hill and it was flat for a little while and then a little down hill.

Mile 8: Yay! The mile 8 sign and what's that? ANOTHER MASSIVE HILL! This one was even bigger than the last. Head down, one step at a time, made it up without stopping. Things leveled out and went down hill a little.

Mile 9-10: MORE FREAKIN HILLS! Up a BIG hill, leveled out, down a hill, then another BIG hill, leveled out again, and then down another hill.

Mile 11: There's a water stop, I grab a water and run with it. It's not easy to drink and run at the same time. I hear a guy tell his girl "One more hill and then it's pretty level from there." A little past the water stop and you see the hill. There's a sign that says something like "Welcome to the "S" hill! The "S" hill can stands for more than one thing. It's the "Oh, Sh....Hill" "Satan's Hill" "Stupid Hill". It was a hill that was "S" shaped and VERY steep! I had to keep my head down on this one. There was no way I could look at the hill and keep going. I made it up without stopping. When I reached the top it was level for a second and then went up a little bit more and then leveled out again.

Mile 12-13: I felt GOOD! I kept a great pace the whole time. There was a lady who used me as a pacer. She came up to me at the end and said thanks for the help. the last mile was flat and easy.

The last .13: I picked up the pace and finished at 2.21.38! While I was approaching the finish line I look around and J's NOT there. So....no finishing picture. I don't know if there was anyone taking pictures at the finish I couldn't find anything online.

I looked around for J, called my mom to tell her how I did, and then saw J waiting at the finish line looking for me.
He snapped a picture and this is my "I'm trying to fake a smile while I tear up on the phone cause J missed me crossing the finish line" photo.
This is my "FINE! I'll fake another smile, I don't care" picture.

Hey, it's REALLY emotional running that far for that long without stopping and then finishing and having no one there to see you finish. I was wanting an awesome "CHECK ME OUT!" photo for the finish. I was going to take Mel's advice and ham it up for the photo. I thought about it the whole time I was running. It ended up that he missed me crossing the finish by about 5 minutes. Oh, well.

Anyway, after a massage at the massage tables and getting some food in me and talking to my mom some more I forgave J for being late and missing out on a special moment.
They gave us a cool little towel and a nice metal. My first! :) I can't wait to collect more!
It's heavy too!

All in all it was a great race, I felt great, my muscles aren't too sore, just my thighs from those hills. I'm glad I did it. I can't wait to run the 10 mile race with my mom next Saturday, it's going to be fun. :)

18 comments:

Unknown said...

Congrats! Sounds like you did great :)

Unknown said...

Congrats and nice report!!! You just entered a new level of running! Good for you girl! Have a nice rest :)

Jen said...

Great. I am so happy that you finished strong despite all of those hills. My hubby did the same thing at my first race... I could have killed him... but they had "official" photogs, so I got one emailed a couple of days after the race.

Nice bling too!!!

TMB @ RACING WITH BABES said...

Awesome job and great report! I love that medal!

misszippy said...

Great job! Sounds like you enjoyed the experience and will be back for more.

Tibett said...

You did a great job! I'm so impressed! It was fun to read the details...sounds like a tough course with lots of hills. So did you enjoy it? I think running 13.1 is actually pretty fun! Looks like you have another half coming up? Awsome!

-Tibett

Sherri said...

Whoo Hooo! Great run! I loved your report, it was a lot of fun to read!

Christina said...

Congrats on finishing that half! Love reading your race recap.

@mie said...

Way to Go!!! =)
Sorry it wasn't the perfect finish for you, but there will be plenty more!
You are amazing!!!

Amy said...

Go you! On the plus side, J just didn't expect you to be so dang fast! :D There are worse reasons to miss a finish. I have a new respect for people who can run hills. I can't do it.

Anonymous said...

You did awesome!! That is a fabulous time for your first! Congrats on a great race :)

~ Jill said...

Nice work out there! Sounds like an amazing run!

Unknown said...

Great job. Once you've done your first, it's easier to get in more long runs and bring down the time. Now rest those legs.

Melissa said...

Great time! Congrats on a great finish!!

Sarah said...

Good job! You did awesome!

Anonymous said...

congrats!!! i am so proud of you...i knew you were going to do great. and the hills...wow! that just makes you more amazing.

Sarah said...

WOW great job!! So impressed and great time. I hope I can do as well on my first half in a couple weeks!

MJ said...

wow!! Just reading about those hills tires me out!! Congrats on an amazing time!! You'll have an amazing finish photo next time....I'm sure he'll NEVER miss one again!