The Half

Well, Sunday was the big day. It seemed like nothing went according to "my" plan with this half marathon. It started with the training program-just didn't go as well as the other two, then it was the sickness and the hurting arches, and it finally ended with me finding out the the race was on Sunday and Jeremy was teaching that day!! I was very very close to just not even running it until my sweet friend Lisa volunteered to drive out to Athens with me and cheer me on....what a great friend! Everything went pretty smoothly that morning-except for the fact that we got there like 10 minutes before it started so I didn't get to use the bathroom (no wetting my spandex issues along the 13.1 miles though!) and they were out of safety pins for my bib. Fortunately, there were port-a-pottys at every water station (I have never seen that before!). What a blessing!! I made two stops. Pretty sure that the second stop was just because I saw a potty so I felt the urge to pee. I didn't think about the fact that it probably added 4 minutes total to my finish time. Oh well, when you gotta go ya gotta go!! This first picture was taken at about the halfway mark-notice my race bib tucked into my iPod arm band. It was so great to see Lisa and Ella. Yeah, I didn't mention that Lisa even brought Ella in the cold to cheer me on. That is one dedicated friend! The temperature started out in the high 30's and ended up in the low 40's by the end of the race. I was feeling pretty good at this point.....then came the fatigue and HUGE hills. The whole race was just up and down (felt like mainly up) up and down, hills, hills, hills. 

A few weeks ago I was talking with Jeremy about one of my insecurities....my weight. I have a chart on our bathroom mirror and I weigh myself every Sunday morning and chart my progress....or lack there of. Well, after our talk I went running. When I came back I noticed that he had written "I can do all things through Christ who give me strength" on the mirror in a dry erase marker. That verse stayed with me all the way throughout the race. The fact that Jeremy was teaching that morning was also a HUGE motivator. I just kept thinking, "I have to finish, I have to finish, I can't walk, I can't walk, I have to run so that I can hear Jeremy at the 11am service!!"

We made it! 

My official time was 2 hours 17 minutes which is actually my worst 1/2 marathon time, but I had two bathroom stops and it was the hilliest 1/2 marathon course that I have done so far. I'm trying not to be so hard on myself but it's hard when you train for so long and then get your worst time. I know that I shouldn't compare times since all three courses were totally different from one another and so were the weather conditions. I know, I know, I know. Bottom line is that I trained, ran, and finished....and most importantly I got to hear God speak through Jeremy later that morning!! What a blessing!