I Did It!!!

Well, I did something I never thought I could do…I finished a half-marathon…and I wasn’t the last one to cross the finish line!  It all still feels like a dream…did I actually run (who am I kidding, I “slogged” it-there was no running involved)?  Then I try to get up from my chair and my knees sound like a popcorn popper and that’s when I remember I did “slog” the race.

I never really thought about how far thirteen miles was until we took a shuttle to the start line for the race and drove the entire route.  The whole time I was wondering “are we there yet?”.  It seemed like the ride would never end!  Of course, everyone had to use the porta-potties right before the race and since it was a women’s only race, you’d think they would have a ton of them…NOT.  Event organizers…hello?  We’re WOMEN!  We need more than ten seconds to pee!

My friend Amy and I did well the first five miles, “slogging” along at a decent pace.  About mile 6, I started to get the “Oh no, there’s what?  Seven more miles to go?  Are you kidding me?  Where’s that damn shuttle now?”  Luckily, Amy was a life-saver and really pushed me to keep going and only walk at water stops or at the tops of the hills (thanks event organizers who said there were no hills on the course…you bastards).

Once we hit mile 10, we were in the double-digits and we knew we were getting close.  The marathon elite runners were passing us on the opposite side of the street, barely breaking a sweat or panting, doing a parade-wave and wishing us good luck.  Externally, I returned the wave and smiled.  Internally, I wanted to trip them and give them the one finger salute!  Seriously, it was great to see them and have them cheer us on…they rocked!

The best part, was seeing the finish line and the firemen waiting for us with our necklaces.  I was hoping they’d be the hunky ones in the calendar, but they turned out to be 17-year-old volunteers.  Granted, it was nice to see young cute men shirtless, but it was a little too “Mrs. Robinson” for me.

I was in complete misery the next two days.  I was waddling around like a penguin with scoliosis.  I swore I’d never do another race again and cursed out my friend for coming up with this lame-brained idea.  However, after a few days passed and I feel better, I’m considering doing another half-marathon in October.

There’s nothing like the feeling of empowerment and accomplishment and that you can do anything if you set your mind to it.  A year ago, I never would have dreamed I would be in a 5k, let alone a half-marathon.  Besides, nothing beats coming home to your husband and daughter yelling “You did it!” under a congratulations sign.