Half-Marathon

Ok, so I know I am waaaay late posting about thiss (try a month!) but I'm in school so cut me a break :)

I FINISHED MY GOAL OF COMPLETING A HALF MARATHON!!!

That's right folks. On September 29, 2012 I crossed the finish line after running for two hours and fifty minutes. I was the 434th finisher out of 540. Did I run fast? Nope! Was I going to set any records? NOPE! But did I finish?

YOU BET YOUR A$$ I DID!!!!!

I was super nervous to do the whole thing because I felt like I could have trained a lot harder, but I also knew I was going to see this through. To prepare for the race a few days before, I drank a TON of water, I'm not kidding, I had to pee about every 30 mintues for a few days. The night before the race my husband and I went out with some other runners and had dinner at Roosters. Carb load! I had pasta with alfredo sauce. Yum!!! The morning of the race I ate brown sugar oatmeal, a banana, and a goo packet. I had another goo packet about two hours before the race, and another packet about 40 mintues before the race.

Here is a picture of me that my mom took right when I got up to Huntsville park. Haha I look as nervous as I felt!

My mom and mother-in-law met me at the park got this picture. (BTW, it was really cold, and I was trying to keep my muscles warm, vanity ceased to be a priority at this point! )

And then I went to the bathroom and then my mom snapped this pic real quick of me and my mother-in-law. You can still tell I am a bundle of nerves. I can't even make a decent smile face!

And then, the buses were loaded. 

Wow, I look like I'm being dragged to a prison or something ;) About 20 minutes later we arrived at the start line, where I used the bathroom again and ate a goo pack. Then all my gear went in a bag, and the race began!

Sometimes I ran...

And sometimes I walked...

And I felt SUPER great...

... until about mile 11 or so, and then everything started to catch up with me, so the last two miles I walked more than I would have liked, but then, ahead of me, in the distance like a mirrage, was the finish line, and I was such a happy girl to be crossing it!!!

The funny thing about being done was that it seemed like it had gone by so fast. It really was a great race. I felt good, I didn't feel like I had killed myself. My knees felt great, my feet felt pretty good besides my left big toe ( Sadly, I eventually lost that toenail, it's trying to grow back now :(

Yes, I finally got my "trinket" as my friend John Morrow would say (the medal). I've wanted one forever, and I wanted to do something that I never in a million years thought I could do. I can't describe the amazing feeling of finishing this race. I learned a lot about myself and that my will power can do amazing things. There are still a lot of things I need to work on, self-motivation being one of them, but this was definitly a step in the right direction, and I don't feel bad or conceited at all when I say that I AM AMAZING :)