June of 2012 Mike and I have been living in San Diego for a little more than a year. We are both training for a marathon and half-marathon (respectively) and currently still living with Mike's folks. The great news is that in June of 2012 we finally sold our house in Sacramento and now we are just saving up to get an apartment of our own.
This half-marathon, which is officially called The San Diego Rock and Roll Marathon and Half-marathon, will be my first! My training had been going well and most of my training runs were on my own. I finished it in just under 3 hours and Mike (who has run a marathon before and was in cross country in high school) finished in about 4 1/2 hours. I never thought I would run a half-marathon and actually like it!! There is a lesson there: never say never!
Me at the start of the race. I'm ready to go, and hey I'm lapping everyone on the couch no matter how slow I go or how much walking I do. My goal is to finish at this point!
Mike's finisher medal. He wasn't so sure if he was going to be able to complete the full because he had injured himself during training. We didn't see each other at the finish line because we didn't have a good plan, and I didn't know that he would do the full marathon because he wasn't sure.
The half way point for me.
After taking this picture I saw a woman holding a sign above her head while running ahead of me. I thought, I wonder what that sign says, I want to know so I focused on the lady with the sign and dug deep to catch up to her. I had started the race with the only expectation to finish it and I was half-way done!! A motivation thing I use is to pick someone ahead of me and try to catch that person, the sign lady she was my target!
As I got closer I saw the sign said "Garmin official Pace Person 3:00:00". I thought OMG 3 hour pace person!!! I can beat 3 hours! It excited me and for the next 6 miles Garmin lady and I passed each other up a few times. It was very motivating to know I could finish my first half-marathon in under 3 hours. Especially considering I hadn't done any speed training or training to have a strong pace. I ended up finishing in 2:58:30, and I couldn't have been more thrilled!! Anyone who has ever run will tell you finishing your first is a memory you hold on to.
Finishing my first half-marathon was exciting and bitter sweet at the same time. I did not know where my husband was. I did not have someone waiting to celebrate with me as I crossed the finish line. :( It was sad I had to celebrate my achievement with strangers. (Don't worry I make up for this in 2013) I had no way to get a hold of Mike and we didn't really have a solid plan. I stayed around the finish area for about an hour then I started making my way back to our car. We had parked it at Qualcomm Stadium and took the trolley in to avoid getting stuck in traffic or fighting for a parking spot. Mike and I were finally reunited at the trolley station when he showed up 2 hours later, because he had run the full marathon. Don't worry he also didn't have anyone to celebrate with because I had left. We discussed having a better plan next time :)
Let me tell you, you don't know pain until you can't walk because your legs are like bricks. We even took ice baths to recover. For the next 2 days we slathered ourselves in icy hot and crawled everywhere we could. Mike's mom kept saying, "Why would you do this if it hurts?" We kept telling her its an accomplishment. I did not regret running 13.1 miles in any way and in doing this I discovered I really enjoy "working out" outside. Of course living in San Diego doesn't hurt either!
