1/2 Marathon

My friend Nikki and I ran our first 1/2 marathon yesterday - the Denver Rock & Roll 1/2 Marathon.  While we were uncertain as to how it would go, given we hadn't gotten a full training session in for it, we were hopeful that we would have a great race.  Our only real goals for it were 1) to complete it, and 2) to not get so far behind that we would have to be picked up and taken up to the pack.  Well, we accomplished both of those, and then accomplished something we had both secretly wanted but never said - we both really wanted to run the whole thing.  We had talked for weeks about running as far as we could (maybe 7 or 8 miles) and then run/waking the rest of it.  On a training run a couple of weeks ago, we tried using a GU gel to help keep us going.  We discovered that it really does help us a ton!  I have a friend that doesn't eat or drink gatorade (or the like) while she runs a marathon, but her husband does both.  Another friend said that he doesn't see a reason to eat for a half marathon.  Well, like everything, you have to find what works out best for yourself and follow that. 

My husband took us down there and dropped us off around 6:15am - that was really nice of him and the boys to get up that early!  We wandered around to look at everything and actually got our gear bags ready right near the porta-potties.  I have a nervous bladder, so I had to pee twice before the start!  We had some watermelon gummies before the race that were really great.  We met up with a girl she works with a girl named Susan - she runs occasionally with her and her twin Sarah.  We were supposed to start in corral 18, but with so many people there, we just fit ourselves in line in corral 10 and went for it.  Susan and Sarah took off ahead of us, and we just went slow and steady.  I felt really bad because I ended up having to stop twice more to pee during the race - around mile 3 and mile 6.  And of course there were lines at both stops.  It ended up adding 6.5 minutes on to our time.  The official tag time was 2:43.57 and my garmin watch time was 2:37.26 (I stopped it while we were stopped.).   We finished under our predicted time of 3 hrs, and we didn't stop to walk at all!

My right foot I think will always be a problem.  I put a second skin patch over the spot where I normally get a blister on my arch, but it rubbed off and I ended up with two pretty bad blisters there.  My left foot is great - never a problem with shoes or running.  But my right shoes never fits well, and I have gotten blisters on every run over 4 miles.  I am not sure what I need to do about that, but I have a little bit of time to figure it out. 

We still don't have the drive to run a full marathon, but we would really like to work this next year on improving our times for the 5k, 10k, and 1/2 marathon.  This past year has really shown me that I can do so much more than I thought I could.  A year and a half ago when I started running, my goal was just to be able to run the Race for the Cure 5k.  Who would have guessed that less than a year later, I would have run a full half marathon!?!?!?!  Not very often am I this proud of myself.  And I don't think I could have done it without Nikki.  She has been my rock through this and she keeps me going every step of the way.   I can't wait to see what else we can do in the future.  :)

That's us, at 6:30 am yesterday.   What a proud day for us!!!