Half Marathon

I ran my first half-marathon today.  It was a beautiful day, around 60 degrees, and a lovely course.  Here is a map and a promotional picture from the race's website:

I was very nervous, since the farthest I've ever run before is 10 miles (which I did twice before the race).  But I honestly felt really good.  I tried to start out fairly slow and pace myself so that I wouldn't get worn out.  I think I started about a 9-minute mile and then slowed down a little bit towards more like a 10-minute mile.  Overall, I finished in 2 hours, 4 minutes and 40 seconds, which is a 9:30 pace.  My goal was 2:15, so I was really happy with the end result. My left knee is bothering me a bit. I think it's because the road was very sloped along the course, and so I was running unevenly.  Hopefully it's nothing that a few days' rest and some ibuprofen won't fix. I had some problems with my other knee a few months ago, but a new pair of shoes helped that. But I think this run proved to me that the sloping of the surface is one of the biggest causes of the pain.

Anyway, I finished it and I was so excited! This is a big accomplishment for me.  I sometimes wonder how  I got to be a "runner" - when I was in middle school and high school I would beg to not have to do the mile run.  I dreaded it and needed to walk most times and threw up twice. And now I just ran 13.1 miles for no good reason other than I wanted to prove I could do it. But I had a lot of fun and might even try again next year!

My friend Heather Kunz from the ward here ran it with me.  She has run a few before and was a nice person to have to motivate me.  We didn't run the actual race together, since we're both used to running alone and she is faster than I am, but we rode up together and strategized before the race and met up after for a little bit.  Here we are before the race. 

And after. Keep in mind that I had just run 13.1 miles.  I'm not sure why she still looks so good.

Peter and the kids came to cheer me on at the end.  It was fun to see them.  I gave Peter and Spencer high-fives as I went by.  Then I heard Spencer say, "Where is she going?"  I think he thought I would stop when I saw them.  Sorry, buddy, but I wasn't stopping 1/20 mile from the finish line.