Motivation Monday: I Finished My Half Marathon, Now What?

Hallelujah!!!

I am DONE-I finished the Dallas Rock and Roll Half Marathon yesterday in 2:49 and some odd seconds. I will take it, even though I know I could have gone faster but I didn't-will explain later in this post.

Race recap:

Friday I jetted out of work to get in my car, brave traffic and get to the convention center to pick up my packet. At the expo I ran into one of my neighbors, who was also running. I had no idea, so I told her good luck and hoped to see her on Sunday. I knew the weather was not going to be ideal and was having a hard time figuring out what to wear. I didn't have many options for long sleeves, so I wandered over the Luke's Locker booth and found a sweet Nike pullover and a pair of shorts (that sadly didn't get used). I paid a grand total of $33.84 for both :) love me a good deal!!

On Saturday I tried to eat right, and hydrate as much as possible but my stomach just didn't want to cooperate. I really didn't eat enough and I knew that it would come back on me. I was so incredibly nervous about trying to get everything together. I waffled back and forth between wanting to wear shorts, my unlined leggings, or my fleece lined legging. I laid all three bottoms out and went to bed.

I got up around 4:30 A.M. Sunday (ugh...) checked the weather and saw that it might rain, almost crawled back in bed and said "Screw It" but I didn't. I thought about all the support I have had from my friends and more important, how disappointed I would be in myself. So, I sucked it up, threw my hair in a ponytail, put on my warm leggings, ate some pb toast, kissed the hubby good-bye and went on my way. I knew I needed some coffee so I went through McDonald's and got me a small coffee.

I arrived at Fair Park, found the shuttles, and got on the bus. A really cute and sweet girl set next to me-she was running her first half and we were in the same corral. We got to the start line and could NOT believe how freakin' cold and windy it was. At the last moment I had grabbed a jacket to wear and I was so glad I did. Around 7:15 I went and checked my gear bag, dummy me I took off my fleece earband and my other jacket. I really figured I would be okay. I wasn't. The wind just ripped through my long sleeve pullover and my head was freezing. I finally went to my corral and was really regretting not adding a few more layers of clothes. I passed by a clothing donation box, spied a scarf, and did what any sane, cold person would do...

Yeah, not my best look-but I didn't care I just wanted to warm up. It gave the crowd a good laugh. I also grabbed a random jacket closer to the start line. I eventually ditched the scarf, but I kind of wish I would have hung on to it-it was cute!

 Finally my corral was allowed to go and I started running. I was so cold and the wind was awful, but I so sort of warmed up and ditched the random jacket at mile 2. I was feeling great. I turned off Runkeeper's updates so I had no idea how fast or slow I was going. I really didn't care, I just wanted to get it done. I started out following the 3:00 pace group, but I left them behind pretty quickly. As I approached mile 3 I spotted the 2:45 pace group and I passed them :) I felt really great at that moment.

I always walk through the aid stations and because of my poor fueling the night before I made sure to really drink up. At mile 7 I started really feeling crappy and was slowing down. I kept going, by mile 9 I was STARVING. Thankfully, that was where the GU station was and I think I down 2 of them (maybe 3). I grabbed some water and kept going. I was passed by the 2:45 pace group but I didn't mind.

At mile 10, I looked over and there was my neighbor! I asked her how it was going and she told me not too well. Here is a little background on her. She is suffering from a degenrative vision disease and is almost legally blind even with glasses, on top of that her mother unexpectedly passed away last month. It completely devestated her and prevented her from training. She was very close to her mother. She was telling me while were running how much she missed her mom and how she just wanted to finish the race. I did what any decent person would, I slowed down and walked with her. I could have just kept going, but I could tell that she was feeling really defeated and needed a friend. I

We got to mile 11 and started running again, then walked a little more and by mile 13 she was feeling better, but told me to go ahead to the finish line.

I crossed that finish line and almost cried..I waited for her to cross a few minutes behind me and gave her a big hug. We grabbed our medals and headed to get our pictures taken.

So, I finished. I did it. I ran my 3rd half marathon with minimal training. I am so grateful for all of my friends that were supportive on this journey and knowing that they were waiting for my updates really got through this race.

What's next for me? I am going to give long distance running a break for awhile. My husband is working part-time on the evenings and weekends, so long runs are almost impossible to get done. I am going to continue to run and try to get faster with 5K times and I am going to become a gym rat. I am excited to try some new and different things.