“Sweat is your fat cells crying.”
I wish I had a picture of it, but that was written one on of the signs I saw out today, and I thought it was pretty awesome 
So today, I became a half-marathoner. Despite all of the setbacks I’ve had this past month, I went out there, and I did it. I really frickin’ did it!
WooT!
My gun time was 2:42:50, and my chip time (my first chip timed race, I was actually really excited about this! 
) was 2:41:50. You can see the full results here.
I have to admit that at first this didn’t seem like it was going to be easy going. All of this past week there has been quite a bit of apprehension about today, especially since I’ve barely ran AT ALL this month.
It also didn’t help that despite trying to go bed at 10:30 pm last night, I didn’t actuall fall asleep until after 2:00am. I also didn’t wake up either, I had my alarm set for 5:15am but for some reason it never went off. If it wasn’t for me hearing my roommates alarm go off at 5:30, I might have slept right through it, d’oh!
But I got up, took a shower, had a nice breakfast of 2 No-Doz and 2 Aleve (I probably should have eaten something more substantial, but it always seems to bring on major sidestitch). I then checked the weather and they were calling for storms all morning, but there was no rain delay announced. I had mixed feelings about that, mainly because I was tired and in a bad mood about said tiredness. Still though, I went on.
My roommate (who was there for support) and I arrived at the Timonium Fairgrounds at about 6:30, and there were SO MANY PEOPLE there. It was crazy but still a bit motivated. I probably shouldn’t admit this, but I was looking for people who were in similar shape to me, because I was starting to feel like a fraud surrounded by all of these people who LOOKED like runners.
At about 7:00, we were ushered to the starting line, listened to a quick speech and National Anthem, and then, BOOM!
Now, there wasn’t much invigoration right off the bat, in fact, the first couple of miles were psychologically dreadful. It wasn’t that there were any huge hills or anything (that came later) but it just seemed to be dragging on, I felt myself going super slow and it my determination was wavering. Thankfully that didn’t last too long, and by Mile 3 my attitude was turning around, and I was really starting to enjoy myself. By mile 8 I started to get emotional, and was pretty much like that for the rest of the race. This was something I NEVER thought I would be able to do, and here I was, running a half marathon, being cheered on, supporting a great cause…I’m starting to tear up again writing this too (I’m a big baby like that sometimes).
Overall, the course wasn’t too bad, some small uphill stretches, which sucked, but their accompanying downhill stretches rocked The only exception to this was between Mile 7 and 8, which had a uphill stretch that didn’t seem like it would never end. I had small periods of walking here and there, but I (and alot of other people) walked most of this. It was mostly downhill from there though, a slow decline followed by a bit larger decline. The last half mile or so was back on Fairground property, with the last .1 mile or so being on the racetrack on the fairground…IN SAND! Whoever thought that was a good idea was an idiot (I kid, I kid…kinda)
The race course.
Once I hit the ten mile mark I knew I was going to finish in under 3 hours, and that was really exciting to me. My only real goal was to not come in last, but since last place last year was 3h47m, I was shooting for 3h30m. My roommate was surprised to see me at the finish line when he did, and I was honestly shocked too. I managed to maintain my usual running pace (about 12-12.5 minutes/mile) which was awesome Maybe if I hadn’t had 3 hours of sleep I could have gone a bit faster though Oh well…
Once across the finish line we were a Mylar blanket, and a bottle of water. Walk a bit down the race track and there were ladies giving out bagels, granola bars and…bananas! I grabbed a cinnamon crunch bagel (which was awesome) and a granola bar, but I left the banana for my fellow runners, ’cause I’m charitable like that A bit farther down two ladies were giving everyone medals. Once in the middle of the fairgrounds there was an awards ceremony, concession stands, and various other booths. Since I had raised a some what decent amount of money ($600!!!!) I got to go into the VIP booth, were they served some other free food and drinks (the main concessions were for sale only). I also got a cool Brooks Jacket and hat.
The SWAG! My race shirt and medal, and the Brooks Jacket and hat.
Pretty sweet medal, eh?
Overall, I thought this race was very well put together, even though I had initially wished for a rain delay. There were water/gatorade stations about every two miles for so, and people were all along the race route to cheer us on, which rocked. It was pretty cool seeing the police section off parts of the road for us too, made me feel somewhat important I am proud to have been a part of this, and am proud of everyone who participated. Last year over $250,000 was raised for the University of Maryland Cancer Center, and I’m sure this year will be A LOT MORE!
I can’t wait for next years half, but now I need to focus on my FULL MARATHON in October. As of right now, I’m feeling okay. I’m have a feeling I won’t be able to walk all that well for the next few days, and my left arm is sore (?), but I’m feeling good. A nice little nap helped with that too, gotta be able to stay up for the Lost finale tonight
Oh, and why I don’t want to throw myself out there and say this 100%…I do think I’m back If a half marathon isn’t enough of a motivator, then I don’t know what is!
Have a great day, everyone…and THANK YOU AGAIN for all of your support, whether it was donating, or cheering me on, or whatever! You are all truly awesome and I couldn’t have done this without you!
BTW…there are actual pictures of ME, but I don’t have them yet Will post when available!
