My First EVER Half Marathon!

Back in March, a good friend of mine said she was going to run the Utah Valley Half Marathon in June. She asked if I wanted to do it, and I thought she was crazy but after talking it over with Paul I decided to give it a try. So I signed up and that very weekend my training began. It started with 3 mile run with my neighbor and we both felt towards the end that it was a rough one. Yes I was running 3-4 times a week but usually 2 or 2 and a half miles. I thought, oh my, if running 3 miles was tough, how on earth was I going to run 13.1 miles. Each week the mileage increased and the running go more intense. I had great members in our group to run with that totally help push me. I stuck completely to the training schedule running the right amount of miles each week. The long runs got longer and longer, and some were easier than others. Our last long run was a 10 miler the week before and I felt pretty good. But I was still super nervous about accomplishing this race. At first I went in just hoping to finish the race without stopping, but as it grew closer I decided to set a goal and try and finish under 2 hours. We had to get up at 3 am in order to get to the buses to take us up the canyon for the run. We got up there an hour and a half before it started and it was CHILLY! They had little bon fires to keep warm, but me being so nervous just didn't help me stay warm. I had to go to the bathroom twice before the race even started but I wanted to get everything out before I started running (LOL). As the minutes grew closer for us to start, I got more and more excited. I was with 10 other girls and it was so nice to have people to chat and laugh with before it started. I was pretty pumped and once they said go, I took off with 2 other girls. We were going at a pretty good pace at first trying to keep up with the guy holding the pace that said 1:55 meaning if we stayed with him the whole time that is about what our time would be when it finished. The three of us ran together for a while but them we broke off from each other to run at our own pace. I stuck with the pacer for a good 5 miles and then got a head of him which made me feel good. The first 6 miles were pretty good, and I started to slow down a bit. I never had to stop to go to the bathroom and took a few drinks along the way. As I hit mile 10, my body and mind I think were done, but I knew I was almost done. Mile 12 was hard and slow because I could see the finish line, but it was still so far in the distance that is seemed SO far away. Paul and the kids were close to the finish line with signs and were yelling, "Go Mom". It was so nice and really pumped me up for the last 50 yards. I sprinted the last part and saw that I was coming in under 2 hours. I was SO happy. I couldn't believe that not only did I do it without stopping, but that I had gotten under 2 hours. My final time was 1:57:32. What a rush! I couldn't catch my breath when I was done and had to eat a few creamie popsicles, but I truly felt great! I may just do it again next year. We will see if I am crazy again next year!

This was me when I first saw my family.

Waving to Paul and the kids!

I was SO happy because I was so close to the finish line!

Me and some of the girls I trained with. Love them all!

We had a barbeque after to celebrate! Four of the girls that we did it with are missing. We all had a great time!