Holy Smokes!
I can't really wrap my head around the fact that it's over, just like that!
I was REAL nervous leading up to the race. I took a week off of running before the race date to recharge my body and make sure I was well rested before I left.
I also tried my best to eat really clean and give my body lots of good nutrients leading up to the race day & hydrating like crazy!
I tried to boost myself up a lot that week. Make sure that I was talking nicely & not negatively... but I'll be honest, I was so doubtful that I would actually finish it.
I kept trying to tell myself that it was only a few hours of my life & it would be over and I might even be satisfied with myself.
We landed in Orlando dinner time Friday (we had a layover in Denver that lasted long enough for us to watch Canada whoop the US in Hockey... sorry American readers...) the nerves started to fly later that night. The next morning we slept in a bit, and then headed to the ESPN Wide World of Sports to pick up my race package and goodies!
I ended up with a raging migraine that day - so I had a good nap that afternoon and then spent the rest of the day hydrating like crazy and relaxing in the pool at our hotel.
That night, it was early to bed (9:30) because we all had to be up at 2 am to drive to Epcot for the race start.
My family is amazing! They all got up with me - smiles on their faces, ready to rock the finish line! I am SO incredibly lucky!
We got there and took a few photos, enjoyed some warm up music - and I brought a Zumba instructor... so Karrone and I definitely did some routines as my warm up! It was a blast.
They started calling corrals and soon I was up!
I hugged everyone goodbye and went on my way. We had about a 25 minute walk to the start line, so I used that time to get myself in the zone & listen to some relaxing music.
My head was zooming with thoughts - do you have to pee? what if you have to pee? you should probably pee now... oh god, the line up to pee is ridiculous. Am I going the right way? Did I pack my granola bar? Are my minnie ears still on my head? Seriously, am I going the right way? I should totally pee. Nahhh, I'll be okay. I just peed like 4 minutes before I started walking. Where's my corral? WOW there's a lot of people here. I'm hungry. Oh look, my corral. Corral I. Shit. I'm on the wrong side. I can't get to my corral. Ugh. I have to walk alllll the way around again? Stupid. I guess I wasn't going the right way. Well this is embarrassing. Hey no one knows me. Thank god for that. Okay, here we are. I'm going to do some stretching. Yup. Shoulda peed.
For every corral, there was fireworks when they ran across the start line! That was entertaining! Except that I was corral I and I had to go through A-H before I could go. It made me so nervous just standing there waiting. Finally, my corral was up to start. Here goes nothing. The fireworks went off, and my feet started grooving. I just kept repeating "Run your own Race... don't let the excitement tire you out to fast" My slow start paid off and gave me a good start to get through the first few miles.
It all went by so quickly and suddenly, I was at Mile 4. I wasn't feeling so hot. I was trying to take deep breaths and small sips of water. I started to really feel it towards the end of the mile and knew something was gunna come up... and it did. Mile 5, I puked. The medic station wanted me to lie down - but I just couldn't stop. So I kept on going.
The inbetween miles, I just remember continually repeating "Just Keep Running". I really wanted to stop, but I didn't. Even if it was a slow, slow, slooooowwww pace, I still kept running.
By Mile 9, I was determined to give up. I was ready to call my parents and tell me to come get me. I was SO over this whole running thing and didn't want to keep going.
I started saying to myself.
"There's no one here to tell you to keep going. No one is going to do this for you and you have no one to rely on but yourself. You need to motivate yourself. You are here for you. This is your run, you've brought yourself here. So finish it. Giving up isn't an option." And it wasn't. I refused to bring myself to a different country for a run that I'd be training for and give up.
So I kept running.
The mental game is harder than the run itself. "You should stop" "DON'T STOP RUNNING" "No seriously, just walk the rest" "DON'T DO IT!" "It's finnnne, just give up" "You. Can. Do. This."
I have never gone through so many emotions.
At Mile 5, after getting sick... I was mad.
At Mile 7, I remember being somewhat satisfied with my pace and getting into music and just trying to keep going.
At Mile 9, I was fueled with determination and a little anger.
At Mile 11, tears were slowly streaming down my face at the thought that I was almost done.
At Mile 12, I just wanted to be done. People kept saying, it's right around the corner. It never really was...
Until...
I rounded a corner and saw seas of people with signs, cheering and screaming peoples names...
I wanted so badly to see my family. Anything to help me cross the finish line and give me the push I needed to bust out the rest of the run.
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| How SWEET are these 4 people! I die. |
And there they were... Jumping and yelling.
I crossed the finish line of my first half marathon at 3:04:18.
The feeling of accomplishment of something I NEVER thought I could do.
And I did it.
And I'm crazy enough to say I'll do it again... although that wasn't how I felt when I finished...
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| Brother & Sister Love! |
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| Finally sitting... it never felt soooo good |
Ahh! Teared up a little. I hope someday I can accomplish something like this. I feel so far away right now.
ReplyDeleteCongratulations, Your family is amazing!