I ran a half marathon

This is my journey so be prepared for the novel.

Yep you read that title right. I ran a half marathon. I must say it was one of the hardest most rewarding physical things I have ever done. Why would I want to run a half marathon you may be wondering? I often thought the same thing during my training. It's hard it hurts, its uncomfortable why would anyone do it? Well for me it was a number of reasons. I like a good challenge. It's been on my bucket list for a long time. It will be a good way to get back into running, I haven't ran consistently since before Little Man was born. I like running, running gives me a sense of accomplishment that no other workout can. It gets me away from my kids and I NEED that time to myself every now and again. I could go on but I think you get the point...
So here is the journey to my half marathon. I didn't do it alone, I don't think I could have.... I have an awesome friend here and we kind of talked each other into doing it. We both needed the push and the motivation to get back out on the road. So we found a 20 week training program, then found a race that fit in that time frame, and we went for it. the first 13 weeks were great. We got up in the morning and ran, we got up and ran with kids when we had too. (with 5 kids between the 2 of us that was no easy feat!) But we did it. It was hard, it was uncomfortable, we didn't see results for a long time. But then gradually we started noticing it wasn't so hard anymore and hey our times aren't as slow as they were the week before! Slow and steady progress is still progress! We even ran our first race on the Fourth of July. 4 miles of pure agony for me as I was struggling with a knee injury, that finally did go away.
So what happened at week 14? I took a 3 week vacation to Idaho. (it was awesome by the way I hope to finish up a post on that soon) My first run in Idaho I was in a hurry, I couldn't find my regular running shoes so I used an old pair....Biggest mistake of my life! I ended up with a huge blister 2 miles into my run. I was at the bottom of the Justice Grade for those of you familiar with Hagerman and still had to make it back home....So I did what any determined runner would do...(or stupid runner you take your pick) I took off my shoes and ran barefoot. I made home and yes my feet did survive. But now I couldn't run because of this ginormus blister on the back of my heel. I took care of it as best as I could and swam, wakeboarded, and kayaked to make up the difference. I felt lost without my morning runs but all the extra activity helped....a little. I took 6 days off and decided my heal was well enough to start putting miles back on so I bandaged the heck out of my heel and continued on...and it went great for the next 2 weeks. My runs felt good my breathing was improving and I was finally getting close to that goal pace I wanted I even hiked most of Borah the day after an 11 mile run. then came my last run in Idaho another 11 miles...
I woke up feeling great, I charged my watch the night before, got my carbs in and had a pretty good nights sleep of rest. I laced up my shoes and headed out the door. 3 miles in I almost got flattened by a milk truck who didn't think he needed to move over even the slightest bit to give me a little room between me and him...But I survived. Mile 5 my watch died. (I did say I charged the night before right) Well I plugged it in, but the outlet wasn't working so it didn't really charge. No biggie I was in familiar territory so I knew an estimate of how far I needed to go to get my 11 miles. I kept going and when I was finally done much to my surprise the bandage on my heel had slipped and bunched and caused another giant blister right above the blister that had just healed. Lovely.  Oh and by the way running by yourself stinks. It's lonely your mind tends to wander, it's hard to stay focused and I need someone there to push me farther than I think I can go.
I returned home and was putting a combination of essential oils and neosporin, and vaseline on it and running on it was doable the first week, until it got near my next long run...12 miles. It was also the day before a mud run race that I had signed up for. I opted not to run my 12 miles on my scheduled day and was going to run it following the mud run in the evening. That didn't happen by the time the mud run was over my blister, which was already getting infected had turned into a blood blister. Luckily it ripped on its own and was starting to drain. That was a whole knew kind of pain. I knew there was no way I'd be able to run on that sucker for a while. So week 17 I took up swimming. I am not a swimmer. It's awkward, it's hard and I have never been comfortable swimming, I'm just not that great and my fear of drowning overcomes any logical thinking. But I had no other choice so I did it. And turns out it wasn't so bad. I could tell a huge difference in my swimming efficiency in just one week, and I almost swam a whole mile. That's a huge feat for me!
So week 18 comes around, I STILL can't run... heck I can't even put a shoe on the pain is so great. So I plan on another week of swimming...WRONG! The pool is closed for the WEEK for maintenance! At this point I feel like the world is against me and that everything is trying to stop me from running this race. Maybe it's just not meant to be, maybe I should just give up now and not put anymore effort into it. It's already turning out to be a HUGE disaster. This week was horrible for me, I was negative, I was mad, and I felt like a failure. It all stemmed from one preventable mistake, I was so stupid!!
With my race 2 weeks away, I looked into refunding my race, turns out for this race there were no refunds so by not running it I was out the $50ish registration fee. Well that wasn't going to happen...
With 1 week until race day I was finally able to put a shoe on it hurt to walk but it was bearable. With my genius husband we wrapped my foot in vet tape and I set off for a run. IT was hard it was hot I thought I was going to die and I only ran 4 miles, BUT I did it, my foot didn't hurt, and I didn't get another blister! That gave me hope!
My next run was awesome! It felt good, I had a goal pace in mind I wanted and I totally crushed it by over 10 seconds! Finally things were looking up! For the first time in two weeks I was finally starting to believe I could pull this off. 6 days to race day I knew I couldn't get in any more longer runs but I was okay with that. I had finally accepted that I had done all I could do and I had a new goal for my half marathon...FINISH IT. Don't worry about time, don't worry about how many people pass you, or how many people you pass, just finish it.

Race day was here, I had my plan figured out. I knew what I was going to and how I was going to do it...Until the gun went off and pre-race jitters kicked in and I flew off the starting line like I was only running a mile. Pace forgotten, breathing forgotten I got caught up in the thrill of the run. I ran my first mile in 8:10. (I have never run a mile that fast in 7 years) I knew I had to slow it down and get back to the basics, remember my plan. I was feeling good, and I tried to slow down I really did, but I couldn't...the first 7 miles were a breeze! I felt great and was able to keep my pace under 8:40, which was my original goal before and the blister happened.
Mile 8 I started feeling it. It was hard to keep my pace and I needed to refuel. I had taken out my GU packet and was slowly sucking it down so I knew it would be there in a matter of time. My pace slowed quite a bit but I was still running under a 9:30 which was my 2nd goal, not to get over a 9:30 pace at any time of the race. I was able to keep that up through mile 9. But mile 10 and 11 were different stories. No matter what I did my pace kept getting slower and slower and slower.
At mile 11 my foot (not the blistered one) was hurting so badly I had to take a break and walk. I did for about 100 yards, but I knew if I didn't start running again I would never start...So I got back at it. That little walk did me a lot of good. I was able to get back down to an 8:51 pace. I don't know how long I kept it up for though.
When I hit mile 12 all these emotions came over me. I was 1.1 miles from the finish, I can do this. I hurt so bad I want it to be over, you name it I felt it. I had to focus really hard to get a grip on myself because I was losing it! Who breaks down and cries in the middle of a race? Certainly not me! Somehow I pulled together and got through that last mile. Coming into the finish there were 4 people I had my eye on for a while and I made it my goal to pass them all before by the finish. When I came around the last corner to head back into the finish I was engulfed my a bunch of kids. the kids K had already started so not only was I racing against adults I had all these kids to dodge too. I didn't care, I pushed it into high gear and left it all on the table I went for it, gave it all I got and passed them. All. four. of. them.( And a bunch of kids and their parents taking pictures of them who could have cared less that I was there) That was a bit frustrating but I did it! I finally finished! When they handed me my medal I almost lost it again, but I was able to hold it together. I hobbled out of the way of the other finishers and let it all sink in.

yep, that's me racing a kid to the finish!

This sucks, I am never doing this again. Yup, that is what I thought. My whole body hurt, I could barely walk, every movement hurt. I am done with half marathons. Cross a marathon of my list, that's never happening. I will stick to 10k's and 5k's those are much less painful.

As the day wore on I gradually changed my mind. I had a bunch of highs and lows. The data from my watch didn't upload and I lost my split times. I will NEVER know what any of them are. That was very discouraging for me until my loving husband piped up and said 7 years ago they didn't even have that technology, why get so worked up about it now? Good point. Why I am I so worked up? I just ran a half marathon, I accomplished something huge! I placed in the top 10 in my age group, what do you really have to be upset about? Nothing, absolutely nothing.
Things didn't go as planned. Did I lose valuable training time in the two weeks up I was not able to run. You bet I did, but I can't dwell on what I could have done. I can only be happy with what I did do and I ran a freaking half marathon people! Life never goes as planned and neither does training. I learned a lot about myself during this journey, and that is perhaps the most important...
With one race under my belt I know what I need to do, I know what I need to practice, and I WANT to run another one. I know I can do better, I know what I need to do to be better, and I am going to do it. Period. I may even attempt that marathon...