I did it! I ran a half marathon!

Wow! What an amazing day! I can’t believe that I ran a half marathon! Still sounds crazy to me! And to think that 3 months ago, my goal was to run a 3 and 6 mile race- maybe the 10 mile race! Thanks for all my family and fellow running partners ([including Lynn- who I couldn’t find the morning of the mini] and others from Fleet Feet).

After the mini marathon!

We (Benjamin’s uncle and I) got to the starting line and walked around a while. It has stopped sprinkling by then. We saw the huge line for the port-a-pots, but finally found some water. I took my Jelly Sports Beans and some water. I wondered around a while looking for Lynn. I then decided that I had ‘to go’ and since the poncho covered most everything- found a place. I was very thankful that I did because the first 2 port-a-pots on the course I saw had long lines. I walked around and tried to find Lynn again, but they were getting ready to start and I saw 3 girls from Fleet Feet and decided to hop inside the gate. The race “started”, but it took almost 12 minutes for us to get to the start. First mile wasn’t too bad, just crowded, so a lot of weaving. I decided to run behind the other girls and just stay with as long as I was able. The rain started and I made to through Mile 2 of the park, with the first water stop and first (and only) roadkill of the day- a turtle! I think there were 3 or 4 hills in the park- yucky and slow! There’s where I got hot and my glasses started to fog up! Had to take my hat off and tried to cool down. We lost 1 of the girls in the park. Hit another water stop around Mile 4 in the park still. I think it stopped sprinkling by then. I took my first Gu packet here, slowed down a little to eat it.

Mile 5- We lost another girl in the group. That left Ashley and me. I stayed with her for a while (hence how I knew her name). I saw my cousin and aunt between mile 5 and 6. Yay! They looked excited to see me! Made it to Mile 6, and underneath I-65 overpass. Got more water! My knee started to hurt for a while, but thank goodness didn’t last long. Got to Mile 7 and I looked up and saw my mom right before turning into Churchill Downs. Yay again!!

Picture my mom took of me right before turn to go into Churchill Downs

Ran down the tunnel- muddy and slippery- hot and dark! And then up the ramp!! YUCK! I didn’t smell too many bad smells, although I heard stories about last year and the heat- and the horse smells. I remember seeing the twin spires and then they were playing something that sounded like a horse race was being called! I saw lots of people running down the grass to use the restrooms. We were in the track a short time, before having to go out through the tunnel- although this one didn’t seem too slippery. We left CD and ran towards 4^th street and Patterson Baseball Park. I looked for my husband, but we never saw each other- although he saw Lynn and I think she was a few minutes ahead of me. My mom said she saw me again, but I didn’t see her.

Here’s Lynn:

Lynn at Mile 6/7

Mile 8 and 9 were in near UL, running through Old Louisville trying to look for people. Mile 10 was a little rough, I started to get really tired. Ran by a retirement building where there were lots of people sitting in their chairs outside and I tried to wave at them as much as I could. That really made my happy to see them outside. That got me through Mile 10 and we hit up the water stop and had another Gu packet after turning on Breckinridge whether the mini/full marathon split was. Turning the corner to 7^th street hit Mile 11 and I was just exhausted. I think it was a few blocks down and Ashley said something about going faster and I said I would keep up as long as I could- that was about another block. I hit Broadway and I was trying to remember how many blocks to Market Street, where the next turn was. Finally turned and ran 4 blocks. As I passed 4^th street, there was a fire truck or two and an ambulance with someone on a stretcher! Ouch! It’s rough out there on your body if you’re not careful!

I think (that sounds awful, but some parts were just a blur) they turned us down 3^rd street, pass the arena onto River Road, with all the construction. It was a looooong 3 blocks and the finish line was so close, but then they turned us back to Main Street (up a hill) and this was low part of the race for me. About a mile back, I had started seeing people that had finished (with their medals on). Once I reached the top of the hill onto Main, I think it was 3 blocks to Preston Street. I saw my husband and his family there. That made me so faster (after I slowed down a little bit to pose for the camera- since that was probably the only race picture for me).

Coming down Main Street

Passing by Benjamin and his family

The other side of the road were the marathoners and seeing them put things into perspective a little bit and helped me to go faster again. Turning onto Preston, I could see a sea of people, along with that finish line. About 30 feet before the finish line, I saw my cousin, aunt, and great aunt- and they saw me!! Super excited!! I saw the clock and I was subtracting the time difference in my chip and clock time- and realized that I was still around 2:30, so I sprinted toward the finish line.

The official time was 2:30:23. My ‘stretch goal’ was 2:20 and my ‘realistic goal’ was 2:40, so I was pleased. I had a lot slower pace than I thought, but I guess that’s okay- I just wanted to finish and feel good afterward- which I did!

After crossing, they put the medal around your neck and then you have to walk forever. First was water, and then Powerade (blue), and then Sara Lee bagels. The bagels tasted yucky! Not sure if it was me or them- but nasty compared to the Panera cinnamon crunch bagels! I grabbed a banana. I had to keep walking what seemed forever- and I was a little wobbly! I made my way to the “Runner’s Reunite” area and our designated area was “T”.

After the finish!!!

I found my husband and his family pretty quickly. Yeah! I finished. We got some pictures and I finally got a “race-day picture” with my husband- since he was the only one out there with me for the other races, I never got a picture of the both of us!

David and Me

His mother had found some headband rubber bands in multiple colors as a present! Yeah! Now I have some!

The Lutz and Robertsons

We made it back to the car and met his aunt, uncle, and 2 cousins for lunch at Cracker Barrel. I got the Sunrise Sampler (ham, bacon, sausage, 2 eggs, hashbrown casserole, grits, and biscuits with gravy! I was hungry and not so much after that!!! I was a little stiff after getting up after lunch and also up the stairs at home. I tried to take a nap, but like after the PJ 10 miler, it wasn’t happening. I kept thinking of things that I didn’t want to forget, so I decided to go ahead and write about it!!

I learned that my Nike Plus iPod isn’t very accurate. I think it hit almost 14.5 miles, so my pace isn’t going to be right on there either, but when I used an online pace calculator with my time and distance, it said my pace was 11:30- urgh, that’s really slow. But oh well, I did NOT stop to walk once. I thought that if I walked: (1) I would always regret it (2) My knees would kill me if I tried to start to run again- so I decided against it even though I really wanted to between 11 and 12 miles.

I’m not going to say that I’m doing it again next year or that I won’t ever do it again- it just takes a lot of time to train right- so we’ll just have to see!!