Pictorial state of the union

Hello, my loves! Too much, not all good, has happened of late. But the highlights include a smashing Halloween with the whores of Wonderland (as well as my sister in her kick-ass, homemade Operation game costume) in Beantown ... 

 

 

And today, technically yesterday, I completed my first-ever half marathon in two hours and 18 minutes. According to my knees, 13.1 miles is the longest distance they'd ever like to run at once. They've put in a request for that to be the going limit. Right now I have to agree.

It was much more emotional than I thought it would be. Tears welled in my eyes at numerous points, and especially when I saw my dad at the finish along with my friend Trish, who had stayed hours after her 5K finish to hand me flowers. Of course I was passed by a blind man (who was fast as hell), a guy with a prosthetic leg, and I kept crisscrossing a guy who was severely disabled - and right at the end, as predicted, I was passed by a woman who could be my grandmother ... if my grandmothers were in wicked running shape. All in all, despite the frigid morning and my wicked headache, it turned into a beautiful, beautiful day.

I'm surprised by how proud of myself I am. I trained really hard for 12 weeks and stayed dedicated to the schedule. I'm proud that my training prepared me well. (I still can't get over how many hills there were - the hill back by Myers Park High School and the hilltop finish were pretty killer.) And because I think of marathons as being the ultimate in difficulty, I'm glad I didn't think too much about this being hard. It was a lot harder than I gave it credit for being. Especially with my little legs and shitty knees.

I plan to keep on running, though. The new running tights I've purchased are super warm and comfy as are my hat and gloves - a stark change from my training in August and September in heat that had me swooning. Thank you to everyone who helped support and encourage me and to all the race volunteers today. It was f'ing freezing earlier and I'm uber impressed by the kindness of strangers. Now, I welcome bedtime.

 

 
 

 

Comments

[BD]

Congrats on completing the half marathon.
I too ran the race.
It was a nice route.
It was cold and of course, the hills get tough at the end. I don't understand why they always set them up that way.
I was also amazed with the blind gentleman who was racing. First time I ever saw that.
Great to hear you are going to keep up with the running. It is a sports that you can continue for a long time.
Take care and Happy Thanksgiving.

[Regan]

Thanks so much for the encouragement and support. The Dowd Half was a great race, albeit colder than my training and quite hilly, as you mentioned. The relative hilltop finish was a nice touch. :) And that blind man was amazing! I've been experimentally closing my eyes intermittently while running (nothing extreme or dangerous, mind you) and I just can't imagine. It's so impressive!
I'm weighing the Thunder Road Half in a few weeks. I'm more fatigued than I realized, I think. I took a few days off and then picked back up on an every other day training schedule as if I would do the Dec. 11 half and it's just taking me much more to recover. My legs are pretty worn out. So pathetic! We'll see how I feel. I did a lot of mileage Saturday and then hiked Sunday so today was a wash. We'll see.
I hope you have a FABULOUS Thanksgiving! I can't believe the year has gone by so quickly!!! Take care!