i did it... 13.1 miles

So yesterday was the big day... the day i trained for 3 months for.. the capital city 1/2 marathon.... well i did it! there wasn't a specific time that i was looking to beat - i just wanted to cross the finish line.. and i did that [surprisingly under 3 hours {remember i never claimed to be a fast runner!}]

chris, myself and ashley before the race
at the beginning of the race 10,000 runners
at about mile marker 3 the rain started.. and it never quit... i will be completely honest with you and i didn't train in any inclement weather and I hate wet shoes and socks [to me there is not a worse feeling in the world!] so knowing that i had 10 more miles to go in the pouring down raining i knew i was going to be semi-miserable! so for the next 10 miles, i avoided as many puddles as i could, tried to protect justin's ipod touch from getting ruined and pushed through the freezing cold weather [not only was it raining but there was enough of a breeze to make it freezing! - Thank you mother nature!] to say that it was easy -i would be lying, but i knew that i would regret not finishing if i had given up at that time - so i just kept going!

finishing the race almost to the finish line [drenched]
myself, ashley and chris after the race - soaking wet!
justin and myself
my mom, dad and me


i am very thankful for everyone who came out to watch -justin, my mom, dad, alli, doug, my grandma and grandpa, molly and jenn! you guys all made running that much easier - it was amazing to have that support there for me! and thank you to everyone who sent me a text, facebook message or left me a note on my blog wishing me well! i couldn't have done it alone!

i am also excited to try running the 1/2 again in the fall. justin is going to sign up with me and we are going to start training again next week! this time my goal is to run the entire time, and not just partially! i now know what 13.1 feels like and i know that i have it in me to run the entire time!

i am very thankful to ashley who got me started in running, and because of her motivating me - i have started to encourage others.. because if I can run a 1/2 marathon - anyone can! it is so rewarding in the long run [no pun intended!] let me know if you are interested in the training schedule that we used - and i will send it to you!

congrats to everyone who ran in the capital city 1/2 yesterday and thank you for all of your support through the last few months!