The Big D

Sunday was finally race day! I had so much fun spending time with Randy in preparation for our half marathon debut. It was great being with someone who was in the same boat as me.
Sunday we had to get up a 6 to get ready and drive over to the race sight in time. Apparently this was a smaller race, but it didn't seem all that small to me. I think there were a little over 5000 runners. As you can imagine the start was insane. The first few miles were so much fun though! Since everyone still had energy there was so much cheering and yelling, it was hard not to run super fast because of the adrenaline. Randy and I ended up finding each other around mile 2 and ran together for most of the race. Thank goodness she was a great pacer for me!
I felt surprisingly well throughout the race until the last couple miles. It felt like the last bit of energy was sucked out and I had nothing left. Seeing a man being taken away on a stretcher did not help either. I finally crossed the finish line and felt relief. It was the best sense of accomplishment!
I knew that I would probably have really bad knee pain afterwards, but it hasn't been as bad as I thought. My legs are still recovering but the soreness is finally starting to subside. I never really pictured myself as a long distance runner, but I'm really starting to get into it. I'll for sure do another half marathon in the Fall if not a full. There is just something about pushing yourself physically to reach a goal that is so fulfilling. If you haven't experienced it before then you should, it is a wonderful feeling.

Until next time...