It's hard to tell but that is me at the finish line. I wanted to have Jamie try to take a picture of me finishing with my time in a picture. The words to describe this experience are: mentally challenging, tough, and tiring. Was it a good experience?? Absolutely! However, with that said, there were moments when I asked myself, "What am I doing?"I will try to give a mile by mile recap of the experience.I was able to run it with a friend and former boss. This was his second half marathon and clearly knew what to expect more than myself. His wife was walking/running the race as well. It was nice to know someone in the sea of runners. However, we did not run the entire 13.1 miles together.
Mile 1-4: these first four miles were the easiest by far. I felt really good going out trying to maintain a good but slow pace. I think I was running close to just over a 10 minute mile. It felt really good. I was nervous prior to this race because I had been having some trouble with my blood sugar when running. It would drop really fast and I would get shaky. I had decided to take a GU energy gel 15 minutes before the race and it definitely helped.
Mile 4-6: Throughout the race there were water stations every 2 miles. At the 4 mile marker I decided to take another energy gel as I felt myself fading. Conveniently, this was at the first long hill so I walked the hill while I sucked back on the gel and washed it back with water. Once I finished and reached the top of the hill I decided it was time to run again. I was running a good pace again and started to feel the gel take affect pretty quickly. It was a good feeling. However, before 6 miles I got a bad cramp that I couldn't seem to kick. Which makes me think (in hindsight) that my pace had sped up and I wasn't aware of it and so the cramp took over. I decided to walk to stretch it out. At the 6 mile marker was another hydration station and gel station. I grabbed another gel but saved it for later. I started running again and felt good for a bit.
Mile 7-9: The first bit of this section I felt good but I was starting to tell that my legs were starting to get tired and muscles were getting tight. My cramp came and went which made me take some walking breaks to try to get it under control. Around the 8 mile mark I decided to take another gel in hopes that the energy boost would push me through my legs feeling tired. Around the 9 mile marker we had to run past the finish line while other runners were already finishing. It was a great boost to hear the music and see runners finishing. I felt like I was maybe in the home stretch....it didn't take long to realize I really wasn't in the home stretch I still had 4 miles more to go!
Miles 10-13.1: This was the part of the run that was the worst! My cramp changed and started to take over my entire rib cage area. It felt like my entire chest and stomach were tightening like I was doing a stomach crunch but holding it forever! I walked more in this portion than I really wanted or planned to but with my body revolting I didn't feel like I could push through the pain. When it wasn't my chest cramping it was my legs that were just tired and tight. I could tell that my running stride had totally changed from the beginning of the race to this point. My stride seemed to have become shorter. It wasn't until the 12.5 mile marker that I didn't really care that I was in pain I was going to finish running and I was going to run it hard. I could hear the people cheering and the music playing and I was going to finish as strong as I could. When I finished I could barely breath and I was gasping for breath. It was an emotional moment as I found Jamie and realized I finally finished. The months of training and preparation were finished. I had FINISHED the race. I knew I would finish the face but I just didn't know how long it would take me (I had a time in mind that I had hoped I would hit). I would be lying if I said I am happy with just finishing and don't really care about the time but my competitive nature spilled out and I was a bit disappointed with my running. I did not expect to have as much problems as I did running and I sure did not think that I would walk as much as I did. Am I happy I finished the race, yes, But now I wonder if I could do it better...
This does not mean that I am planning my next half marathon anytime soon....but it isn't out of the realm of possibilities.
9 comments:
AWESOME!!!! Sorry for the challenges you faced during the race though - i can imagine that could be disappointing. certainly, be proud that you finished...and look forward to the next one ;) i hear it's an addiction of sorts...once you start, you keep going back for more.
You Go Girl!! I know you were disappointed with your time but you set a goal, trained for it and you finished the race which is amazing! We are so proud of you.....Way to Go!
Megan, What a great story. We were praying for you Sunday and grateful to hear that you finished as you had hoped to. Your body sure did tell you how it was doing throughout. A good learning experience, although painful and troubling when you have a hard time understanding your symptoms. I'm glad that you walked and took glucose and water when you did. The chest discomfort may have been from exceeding your cardiopulmonary limits since you had not done this distance ever before, even in training. We are also proud of you - what a great accomplishment. Glad your safe. Love Dad..................
Way to go Megan! Thanks for being real sharing about the experience. It kind of made me think of our relationship with Christ! We keep running the race - even though the race isn't always what we thought it would be. I still say WAY TO GO!!!
Way to go. Sorry about the cramping. Now you'll know what you can do for the next one to improve. I know you'll do another. Once it is in your blood you can't stop!!
WAY TO GO! I think you're great!
Congratulations,on running the race and finishing! The only thing I can relate it too is when I hiked Mt Cheam last year and my brain and muscles did not want to listen to each other near the end ... but after almost giving up, I kept going.. and what a good feeling it was!
That's so awesome!! Thanks for sharing your story of your first half marathon-what a great achievement! :)
You AMAZE me. Well done.
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