Parkway Half Marathon

 On Saturday I ran my first half-marathon.  This has been a goal of mine for a while (since I stopped having kids) but I didn't expect to accomplish it so soon.  I had some unexpected setbacks come up during my 10-week training, such as a knee injury that put me back two weeks, sickness that kept recurring, and a trip to Yosemite, so I virtually missed all but one of my long runs (topping out at 8 miles;) subsequently I was a little nervous about how my body would handle the distance.  I have to say that this was probably about the easiest half-marathon a person could run, as it was entirely flat. 

My outfit all laid out the night before.

Charisse, Michelle and I getting ready to head over to the starting line.  We were all a little jittery and had to keep moving.  Charisse and I shared a Rockstar. =)

  They had several live bands along the course, which I thought was really great.  At points there were small crowds of people cheering you on, and other times you felt all alone with the pavement and the sound of your breath.  These bands really helped to rejuvenate my energy.

 The trail was a loop, so as we were running we could look down and see the runners on the return path along the lower trail.  Occasionally we would cheer each other on or there would be a random shout of encouragement from friends.

 Here was the turnaround point.  Keeping in mind that my longest run ever had been 8 miles,  everything beyond this was uncharted territory.  I kept waiting for that point where I felt like I hated it, but it never happened.

 They had mile markers along the way which you could anticipate.

 They also had these inspirational (and sometimes funny) quotes off to the side of the trail. 

"I'm with the bomb squad.  If I'm running, try and keep up."

"You have a choice: you can throw in the towel, or you can use it to wipe the sweat off of your face."

Mile 11- 2.1 to go.

Crossing the finish line and waving at my family.  The longest run of my life!

 Two of my other favorite quotes of the day included "Pain is nothing compared to what it feels like to quit" and "Those who say it can't be done should not interrupt the ones who are doing it."

My happy boy in the grass after the race.

My biggest supporter.

Jacob at the beanbag toss.

My half-marathoner in training.

Bouncehouse for the kids (which actually collapsed on a couple of them.)

And have you ever seen so many port-a-potties in one place in your life?

This was a great run and it feels so good to have it under my belt.  I ran the entire time and came in just over my goal at 2hrs. 17mins.  Like I said, I kept waiting for that time when I would "hit the wall," and it never came.  I think we were blessed with perfect weather and a beautiful, flat trail and those were definitely factors.  I also feel blessed to have worked through my ailments, including my knee injury and overcoming sickness.  I received a lot of help along the way at times when I didn't know if I was going to be able to do it and learned from my experiences.  There are so many life lessons to be learned from running, which is for another post entirely, but two of these lessons are faith and endurance.  That which doesn't kill you makes you stronger, and the breaking down and building back up process of training is definitely a similitude of life (in my opinion.)  I am grateful to have a family who supports me in my endeavors, and there have been countless hours of babysitting on Ashlee and Forrest's part that made my training possible.  Not to mention their being willing to get up early on a Saturday morning to drive down and be with me.  I do have to say that I will probably do a full marathon (26.2 miles) at some point in my life, but probably not for at least a couple more years.  I want to make the enjoyment last.  There is another half-marathon in October that I would like to do called Four Bridges, and possibly Ragnar in September.  I look forward to the challenges and accomplishments of the future.