First Half Marathon Experience...

The morning of the marathon, I woke up early. Antsy with anticipation for the upcoming race, and praying that the weather would hold out so that it wouldn't be cancelled. I drank one cup of coffee, then ate breakfast, and drank a good bit of water to hydrate myself (however I stopped drinking anything at 5:30am, so that I wouldn't be needing to pee through the entire race.)

I got ready, while Stephen got the boys up and got them ready. When I went outside to feed Toby and let Coco go potty, it was about 60 degrees, with no wind, and felt great! I told Stephen, and he checked the weather and said it wasn't supposed to start raining until late in the morning and wouldn't get cold until that evening. I told him I was going to have to find something different to wear, because I had planned on wearing my running pants (to stay warm), but now I should definitely wear shorts, so that I would stay cooler while running. So I pulled out a pair of black running shorts, and my pink tactical shirt from my half-marathon last spring, that was cancelled due to flooding. I was determined to not have another race cancelled on me, because of rain. At this point, I would gladly run in the rain, just to finally get to run a half!

We were in the car, on our way, and about half way there, we noticed the temperature readout was going down...the weather was getting cooler. Then it started raining on us. Great.. By the time we got there, it was misty and colder, about 53 degrees. The cold rain/wet made it feel colder than that though. I had on a black wind-breaker, but after we got out of the car, I gave it to my youngest son, because he was freezing cold. I told him I'd quickly warm up, so he could wear it, and stay warm. We made a quick visit to the porta-potty, and then went back and sat in the car, until closer to race time. We finally got out, when I heard a man calling for racers to come line up. So off we went. They had us all line up, at the start line. It felt like we stood there, freezing, forever. They brought out some boot camp girls, to take us through a warm up and stretch. Then my friend from high school, Kara, showed up. We got to talk for a few moments before the start. She said she hadn't been training regularly and had only ran 4 times in the past month, and for me not to try to hang back for her. So we agreed that we would both run at our own pace, and would try to catch up later.

Finally, the gun sounded, and we were off! It started slow, the people in front of me were running very slowly, and I couldn't get around them for a little bit. Once I finally could, I was off. I just kept my eye on someone in front of me, and then the next thing I knew, I'd be passing them. I was afraid at first, that maybe I was running to fast, and should pace myself a little more so that I didn't putter out before the end. But I felt good, and it felt like an easy steady pace, so I just kept running. At about every two miles, there were aid stations, with people cheering and passing out water or Gatorade, and toward the end, these stations were at each mile. I would grab a cup of water, take a sip, and throw it down, and never stop running. It was so awesome to see all of these volunteers along the course, directing us at turns, and cheering us on, even though it was sprinkling and cold. By about mile 4 or 5, I was behind two men, one of which was older with gray hair, and had an iron man symbol tattoo on the back of his calf. I stared at that tattoo for miles...LOL!

At a little over 6 miles, we passed by the finish line area, and there was my husband and boys! They were cheering for me, and waving!!! It made my heart soar! I was so thrilled to see them. At about 6.5 miles, I slowed at the aid station to get a good sip of water, and then took off again (this was the only time I ever stopped running, and it was only for a second, so that I could get the water in my mouth, instead of all over my face and down the front of my shirt). Shortly after this, it started pouring! The guys that were running in front of me were now somehow right behind me. We had been keeping the same steady pace for miles. I saw one of them keep talking to certain people who were working this event, so I asked him about his profession and he confirmed my suspicions that he is in the same line of work as my husband. We then discovered that we knew some of the same people, and just kept running together and talking, which made the time/miles pass faster. I found out that he is married to, for 6 years, and has a 3 1/2 year old son, and another on the way, due August 22 (the day after my birthday!)

At about mile 8 it came a down pour! We were getting major rain, and lightening. Around mile 9, we were really getting poured on, AND it started hailing! We could see small pieces of hail bouncing off of the road. It was crazy! All I could think was "Memories! This is one race I will never forget!!!" My feet were soaked, there were some major puddles of water forming and we had to just run through them...there is nothing worse than cold, wet feet. But we kept going. There was not a dry spot on my body at this point. My clothes were soaked and stuck to me, which felt like carrying weights around. But at least I had wore light weight clothes to begin with. Around mile 10, we were talking about training and pace (Joe; the one in the profession as my husband, and the older guy with the ironman tattoo, were training for the Ironman competition and this was one of their training runs), so I told Joe that I generally run a 9 1/2-10 minute mile and that my goal was to finish in under 2 hours and 15 minutes. he looked at his watch and said "do you realize we've been running a steady pace of 8.5 minute mile for quite a few miles now". I was shocked! It didn't feel like we had been running that fast, and we'd been at this pace for a long time. Maybe it was the rain, and the cold, driving me to run faster, so that I could get done and get out of this stuff. I don't know. But I was feeling great, and wasn't about to stop. Finally around mile 12, I told them that if I hadn't had someone to run with, this was where I'd be really tempted to stop for a minute. I was soaking wet, cold, and my feet were freezing....however, because of the cold/wet, my legs just felt sorta numb, so they didn't hurt at all! LOL! They told me, there was no stopping now, we only had a mile to go and I was going to finish this thing in UNDER 2 hours! I was amazed~ They said they couldn't believe I'd never run a half-marathon before, and was keeping such a great pace; which encouraged me to keep going! We kept running through the downpour. (I honestly believe God puts the right people in the right place, at the right time. These two guys offered just the encouragement I needed, to finish this race strong. I was in awe through most of the race, watching people running and thinking, I'm actually running this thing, with real athletes! This is amazing!)

All along the course, in the cold and the downpour, volunteers were still out there, cheering us on. Through the community we were running in, people were outside their houses with signs, cheering for us as we would run by. It was so amazing! I'd run everyday, if I had cheerleaders out there like that! LOL! It was such an encouragement.

Toward the end, we all stepped it up a notch. Once I saw that Race Clock, and it said 1:59:22, I ran my hardest/fastest, with all that I had left in me. I crossed the finish line at exactly 1:59:30 (or by the chip on my shoe...which activates when you pass the start line, to when you cross the finish line, I did it in 1:59:19.) WOO-HOO!!!!! I was thrilled! I was exhilarated!!! When I crossed that finish line, they slapped a metal in my hand and were yelling, "way to go Kandy! Congratulations Kandy!" It was the most amazing feeling, to know I had just accomplished that, and through that crazy weather! LOL!

I then met Joe's wife, and introduced my husband. We talked for a moment, then Stephen and I went to get some water for me. They had tents set up, with food, water, and a massage tent, but there was a long line and I didn't want to wait, or make my kids wait around any longer while I got a massage. Instead, I grabbed a water, and a 1/2 banana. But when I opened the banana it was black inside (from being on ice), so I threw it in the trash and grabbed a power bar instead. I took a few bites of it after got in the car. Stephen cranked the heater up, but I was freezing and shaking all over. We hadn't even thought to bring a towel. So I was soaking wet the whole way home. But my spirit was soaring! I had just accomplished a personal goal, and in a lot less time than I had ever dreamed or hoped for. I was freezing, yet exhilarated, smiling from ear to ear. Stephen was very proud of me...and the boys were excited to see my metal, but since I didn't come in first, I didn't win, and they couldn't care less. LOL!!!

So we got home, I got out of the car and mopped up all the water left in the seat. I came inside, peeled off all the soaking wet clothes and jumped into a nice HOT shower. Aaahhhhh..it was bliss! After my shower, I got dressed and we went out to lunch. Then we had to go grocery shopping. Once we finally got back home, I still felt really good, but was tired. I couldn't rest though, I had an appraisal report to type up. While I did that, Stephen napped on the couch, and then after he woke up, he started researching for more races for me!!! :-) He's the BEST!!!!

The next day, I wasn't even really sore. I went to work, and the only time I felt anything was when I had been in the car for awhile and got out, and had to walk down a hill. My shins and quads were getting a little stiff. I was afraid that on Tuesday I might really feel the pain. But once I got up out of bed, my quads and shins were a little tight feeling, but not to bad. After sitting for awhile, working, and then getting up to go get something, I'd feel a little stiff, so I went ahead and took some Advil, just to be safe.

Today I'm feeling great. I even caught up on work today, so I ran 6 miles! Woo-Hoo! Gotta keep my training up, for the next one. ;-)