I Finished!

This weekend I completed my first Half Marathon. I signed up for the Bellingham Bay Half Marathon. I used to be a runner but had not been running for a long time. My good friend and Chiropractor, Dana, challenged me to train for it.

 

Syndi met us at the starting line and was our number one fan all the way through the whole race! She taught her son exactly what a woman wants as far as encouragement and support go.

I have never been part of a race this big. I was surprised when I went to pick up my race packet how many people and vendors were there.

The longest I have run during our training was 12 miles. Dana is the perfect partner for me because during one of our long training runs she directed us to turn down a specific street. I asked why we needed to go that way and she sheepishly replied, "Because there is a garage sale." We paused our training and did a little shopping.

I am used to running with my iPhone and it tells me distance and time but I did not want to wear it during my run because the arm band chafes. It was really difficult for me, not knowing how far we were or what our pace was. Eventually (mile 5) we figured out where the mile markers were and compared that to how long we had been running. I was pleased to discover that we averaged a 10.5 minute mile! Faster than any of our training and without any pauses for garage sales.

The children made us signs, I really wish I would have gotten a picture of them with the signs. I loved Aaron's it read: "Go Carolynn! Run, Run, Run, Love, Your Son!"

The last mile was by far the hardest. When I rounded the last turn and saw how far away the finish line was I almost cried. I had great visions of finishing strong and sprinting across the finish. I really wanted to quit or cry but all the people cheering us and Dana telling me I could do it, I did!

It felt like the finish just kept getting farther away and I was never going to get there.

Despite the massive wind and adrenaline rush from the night before with no sleep and not having actually run 13.1 miles before I did it!

It was super fun to have my family, my mom and Kimberly, Dana's family and lots of people I knew along the way cheering for us. Several times I heard people cheering for me and Dana would ask how I knew that person, every time it was because I had been their Doula. It was pretty amazing to me how many of them were there.

I got hugs and congrats from my children. They were especially impressed with my Medal. They want me to wear it everyday, which I happily oblige. Although Erik prayed that I would get first, or second, maybe even third I was thankful that I completed it.