Half Marathon

I'm not exactly sure how it came about, but in the fall, Betsy and I started talking about doing the Illinois Half Marathon together.  It might have started when I told her that I was considering doing a 5K, and she said "that's cute."  Haha!  Betsy is a marathon runner and has run in several full marathons and even a few 30 mile + runs!  She was convinced that I could pull off a half marathon, so after quite a bit of hesitation, I decided to just go for it.  My original goal was to be able to power walk the whole thing.  I figured if we pushed it walking, we could finish in 3.5 hours.  

I trained for about three months, following Hal Higdon's walking schedule.  I stuck pretty closely to the schedule, only missing a few of my scheduled walks.  Thank goodness for my treadmill.  With Josh's work schedule and having young children, I never could have done my training without it.  I got a lot faster and built endurance over time for sure.  I even lost the rest of my baby weight.  And by that, I mean I finally got back to where I was before I had Hannah.  Yes!  

The weather was not what you would expect for late April.  The previous Saturday had been 80 degrees, but it was predicted to be in the 40s for the entire race with thunderstorms.  Great!  We were a little chilly right before the race started, but that did not last.  We did get rained on and were pretty wet by the end, but we were never hot or cold, so I can't complain!  In the 13th mile, I heard thunder, but luckily we were able to get to the finish line, get our medals and take cover before they called the race off for everyone else who was still on the course.

We ended up finishing in 3 hours and 9 minutes, which was about 20 minutes faster than my goal.  I was happy with that time, but the competitive side of me now knows that I could have done it under 3 if I had tried a little harder, so I am anxious to do it again and do it faster!  We did end up jogging here and there, including the entire first mile.  As of 8 days before the race, the longest I had gone was 8 miles.  We did 10 the week before and 13 (actually closer to 14) the day of the race.  Let me tell you, the last couple of miles, I was feeling sore!  But I was so excited to cross the finish line.  It was such a feeling of accomplishment for me.  I was very happy and proud!

I'm so happy that Betsy did this with me.  I would not have done it alone, and I know she could have KILLED our time.  She was not sore at all after the race.  I was pretty sore on Sunday and Monday but was feeling pretty normal by Tuesday.  

It's kind of crazy that my first race ever was a half marathon, but I actually think it was the perfect challenge for me, especially since I was not concerned about time.  It was more a challenge of distance than time for me.  I immediately started thinking about what I want to do next.  I think maybe a 5k is in my near future.  It's much shorter, but I would like to try and increase my speed.  We shall see!