This past Saturday I ran my first half-marathon. My first, but certainly not my last. I hate to get all sentimental about it, but it's a little bittersweet sitting here thinking about it. I looked forward to (and stressed about) it so much and before I knew it, it had come and gone.
My sister flew in Wednesday night so she could witness the excitement of the weekend. Friday she and I, along with my ever-supportive partner in crime Molly, went downtown to the health expo to pick up our packets and t-shirts. We also grabbed our Gu to fuel us from 0-13.1 as well as Sweaty Bands to keep our hair out of our faces as we pounded the streets of Nashville. On a side note, if you are an athlete of any kind, you must get a Sweaty Band. They DON'T slip! They are an absolute revelation in the world of headbands - and I'm not exaggerating. And no that is not sarcastic. After the health expo, we went shopping for some suitable racing attire and after about, oh, 10 stops, we finally made some purchases. Ready for the race....and a photo opp!
Naturally, I couldn't sleep the night before. Between the excitement of the following days' events and the shear terror of over-sleeping, it was a long night to say the least. Three a.m. came early.....but not bright. It was still pitch black out. There's just something wrong with getting up before the sun, isn't there?
By 5 a.m. we were parked at LP Field. Granted, we had been downtown at 5 a.m. before, but we weren't just arriving, we were leaving after a night of shenanigans on Broadway. Full circle. As we pinned on our bibs and prepared to get on the shuttle, we danced in the parking lot to the new One Direction song. Oh yeah, now the blood is pumping. All aboard the shuttle!
Centennial Park was hopping at 6 a.m. The lines for the port-o-potties were growing by the second and runners were warming up for the big event. By seven we were hanging around by our corral watching the paparazzi swarm the premises. Pretty excited about our pre-race picture because I'm pretty sure that all the subsequent pictures taken during and after the race will be heinous. And I don't use that word lightly.
When the gun went off for our corral at about 7:30ish Molly and I took off running with big smiles on our faces. We were even laughing! I couldn't believe that we were finally out there running in the race that we had been training so hard for. It was nothing short of amazing. I finished in 2:22:52 and Molly finished in 2:34:47. In the family reunion area, Michelob Ultra's in hand, we toasted the day and agreed that we can't wait to get back out there and do another one.
