Start of the race..I'm in a pink tank top with black shorts |
So the 10th was the day. I was confident going into the race. I had run 12 miles two weekends before that and it felt great..I was tired and my legs were weak ( I did some major hills) but I knew I could have run 13. I set a goal of 2 hours but told myself that the real goal was finishing the race, the time would just be a bonus. Then the day of the race is here. And we have unseasonably high temps. When the race started at 7am it was already 73 degrees out. By 9am it was so hot they closed the marathon course where the half and the marathon runners split. Any marathon runners who came to that point after 9am were forced to continue on the half course and call it a day. Let me tell you, I felt the heat. I don't run well in the heat and humidity that we get in St. Louis and it showed. I showed up confident and determined to have a great race, and my race sucked. My first 6 miles were great and then it went downhill.
Right after mile 6 |
I started playing games with myself...if I walk to the next light..I have to run to the light after that. If I walk for .3 miles then I have to run for .3 miles. The more I had to stop and walk, the worse I got mentally. I would work back into a run but would find myself tripping on the pavement, a sure sign that my legs were fatigued, so I would walk again.
it's kinda hard to see me..I'm waving at my Mom at the finish |
I can't tell you how many times I wanted to quite. I can't tell you how many times I called myself a failure for having to walk part of the course. I can't tell you how many times I wanted to sit down and cry. I had worked for this. I had trained for this. Why couldn't I do it? Yes, I was having a one woman pity party.
After the race was over I kept it together long enough to get home and then broke down crying in the bathroom as I was getting ready for a shower. I felt so bad, mentally and physically, that I crawled into bed after the shower were I dozed and just laid there for a couple of hours. I only got out of bed when I did because Husband came in and laid with me and after a couple minutes suggested we go get ice cream. Does he know me or what? He offered to take me to my favorite place for some cherry almond ice cream. It's made fresh in the store and it's the only place I know of to get that flavor and it's my absolute favorite. I then came home and made a cake to take to my Mom's since she was having the family over for dinner. I had planned to make a celebration cake but, as I told Husband, it turned into a "I walked but I didn't quite" cake.
Crossing the finish line..finally |
My friends on DM made me realize that while I had to walk, I didn't quite. I did finish the race. I completed my first ever half marathon! I couldn't do anything about the temperatures and I was smart by listening to my body and walking when I realized I was suffering. I could, and should, be proud of myself for what I completed. And you know..they were all right. Instead of feeling sorry for myself, I should embrace the race. Realize that I completed it and set my sights on the next one. I know have a PR (personal record). I can tell people that I completed a half marathon and I can be proud of that.
Finish..medal around my neck.time to go home |
You know, we all have good days and bad. The 10th was a very bad racing day for me. However it's not the end. I'll continue to run and I'll continue to work towards the tougher runs. We have another half in October and while I haven't signed up for it yet, I plan to. I have a PR, I need to beat it.
For those of you who might be interested in, here are my stats for the race:
Finish time: 2:13:18
Overall place: 4,217/11,535
Female place: 1,863/7,086
splits according to my Garmin: 8:45, 8:27, 9:01, 8:25, 9:01, 9:29, 9:47, 10:10, 11:46, 11:35, 12:19, 11:59, 10:00
Here's a video from a local news channel that covers a part of the race. The funniest thing is that they interview the men's winner of the half and he said the heat didn't bother him but the wind did. I can tell you that every time I felt a breeze, I could usually hear several people go "ah..that feels good". haha
5 comments:
Wow, wow, wow. I'm so impressed!! I'm a walker, not a runner, so I'm totally impressed that you could run that distance, no matter if you had to slow down your pace -- you **finished**!!!!
Congratulations Kris on your first half marathon!!! You should feel very proud of your performance and that you finished even when you so badly wanted to call it quits! Planning on doing the Hard Rock Marathon(formerly known as the Lewis and Clark)?
Great job!!
Leeanna,
Of course you finished that race! Kudos to you for finishing and also to your husband for being such a great guy!
Congrats on finishing and not quitting! You did a great job. I'd be lucky to go a mile, if I'm to be honest, especially in the heat. LOL
Thanks Beth! It took a lot, mentally, for me to even start training for a half, but I'm so glad i did.
Leeanna - Thanks! It took talking to a lot of other runners to finally feel proud that I finished. I do plan to do the rock n roll half in October. In fact..we were picking a vacation month and it was between Sept or May and I refused to go in Sept. since I'll be in heavy training in Sept. haha!
Bermudaonion - Love your confidence in me! lol! yup..the husband was a really good guy that day.
Anna - Thanks! I'm going to try and keep up my mileage this summer...it's going to be hard in the heat but I hope to do it. The only thing that might change my plans is that I want to train for a sprint tri, so I might have to cut out miles in order to get in the swimming and biking.
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