my first half-marathon!

group stretch by the river:

pre-race shop talk:

tamra and me, smiles!

i fell in love with running all over again in october of last year. it was a time i remember fondly, a time where i created my own schedule instead following the constricting confines of predetermined time slots. for me, one of the joys of temporary unemployment was the time i had to dedicate to running, and the time i allowed to actually ENJOY running. i realized that on average, i ran 5-6 miles per run and wondered about signing up for a race, either a 10k or a half marathon.

somewhere between the fall and spring, the urge to run in a race softened, but was not forgotten and towards late spring/early summer of this year, i grew annoyed at my own lack of motivation and finally signed up for a race. signing up was easy, training, a bit more challenging. thankfully, the numerous months of running beforehand provided my unofficial training and after 4 weeks of official training, i successfully completed my first half-marathon!

as of now, the fastest half-marathon time from a male is 58:23, set by zersenay tadese of eritrea. the fastest female time is 1:06:25, set by lornah kiplagat of the netherlands. i am wowed by the sheer athleticism of these runners--their splits per mile, are on average, 4:48 and 5:08, respectively. IMPRESSIVE and INTENSE.

i ran 13.1 miles in 2:08:51, which means that i ran each mile in just under 10 minutes. i had hoped to get closer to the 2 hour mark, but in my inexperience, i started off too quickly and lost too much steam for the miles remaining. running is as much a mental exercise as it is a physical one. i periodically told myself, "come on!" to keep pace and i also sought out the water stations as mini-precursors to the final water station of them all: the finish line! it was a wonderful experience to be surrounded by a community of people, who, like me, ran in the heat, the humidity, to owe it to themselves the satisfaction of a goal accomplished. all in all, i'm pleased and proud.

and...i'm hooked! i'll run my next half on august 29th!

victorious!

sweaty mcsweaty!

my first medal!