My First Half Marathon!

Hi Everyone!

Four weeks ago I signed Jesse and I up for our first half marathon. Today was our day of reckoning. :)

I am proud to say that Jesse responded to this new challenge beautifully. Jesse was a collegiate runner, but this is the first time that he has trained for a longer distance. In college all of his races were between 5-6 miles. The half marathon is more than double that. 

The result? 

He ran 13.1 miles in 1 hour and 16 minutes!!!! That's just insane. :) He won first place in his age group, and averaged 5 minute and 50 second miles the entire time. To top that off he was able to chat, and make jokes with another runner the entire way. 

I don't have anything nearly that exciting to report, but I was very happy with my first half marathon. I finished in 1 hour and 46 minutes, which is an average pace of 8:08 the entire time. The good news is I felt amazing the entire time. The bad news is that means I could have finished a lot faster! When I finished I felt like I had enough energy to do it again. I enjoyed the beautiful scenery, and I had a great playlist on my i-pod, but I didn't push nearly as hard as I could have. I was nervous about not having enough energy in the second half of the race. 

My first mile was my fastest at 7 minutes and 21 seconds, and the whole time I was holding myself back to make sure I didn't wear myself out to early. By mile two I was able to settle into a comfortable pace that I felt like I could hold forever. 


As I ran in the last mile I started passing people, and another runner cheered me on. As I passed him he yelled, "Go get it! You can do this!" 

Running is more than a sport. It's a community of people with a common interest, and everyone there understands the hard work you have done to get to that point. 

To me the time that you finish in isn't the most important part of the race. Getting out there and challenging yourself is what matters. Putting in the work that it takes to get there in the first place is what matters. In the end we all cover the same amount of distance. 

I didn't get any pictures on my camera, but they took a lot of pictures at the race so as soon as they are available I will share them. 

Overall, I felt like a Half Marathon is the perfect distance for a race. It was easier for me than the pain of racing a 5K, and a short enough distance that I was really able to enjoy it. Running much of the race on a trail with a creek flowing alongside me, surrounded by beautiful trees and nature felt amazing. The temperature felt freezing when we waited to start (it was in the 40s), but as we ran it felt perfect. 

Have a good day! I am feeling a little bit tight today, but not sore so there will be a new workout. See you soon!
Melissa