I RAN A HALF MARATHON!

[heyarnold13]

STORY TIME BECAUSE I'M SO OVER THE MOON HAPPY ABOUT THIS LIFE ACCOMPLISHMENT!!!!!!!!!!

 

So back in March, I was drinking with some friends (the same friends who convinced me to sign up for a 10K while drunk) and next thing I knew, I was signed up to run a half marathon at the end of May. I do 5Ks and lift weights and do CrossFit-esque things. I was NOT a runner. I'm 5'8 and weigh over 200lbs. I'm strong, but I'm not fast, and I've never enjoyed running because it just makes me feel inadequate and weak and too large for the space I occupy. It's very much a mental thing for me. Yet there I was, with this seemingly-insurmountable task ahead of me, all focused around running. I set my training plan, kinda stuck with it up to mile 5, then a back injury followed by shin splints sent me spiraling off the wagon. I continued with my lifting/CrossFit/functional fitness workouts 4-5x/week because those made me happy, but I did no running because running made me miserable. And yet the half marathon continued to loom!!!

 

Fast forward to one month before the race and I FREAKED. THE EFF. OUT. How was I going to run 13.1 miles in a month when I hadn't run more than three in the past two months??? So that Sunday, I laced up my running shoes and did an 8-mile training run. Did I run every step? Of course not. But I did it and I was committed to at least doing my long runs leading up to the race. Next week, I did 9 miles. Then 11 miles. Then it was the weekend before the race and I ran a casual 3 miles and it was HARD.

 

I went to my gym on the Tuesday and Wednesday leading up to the race to keep momentum and because it puts me in such a good mood. I have some of the best coaches and best gym buddies there that make for a fantastic support system. I was in the middle of moving apartments and was wicked stressed, so it was just plain GOOD to be there. Got a lot of pep talk from my two coaches and plenty of words of support and advice from my gym buddies. Packed my bag Friday morning, went to work, then off I went with three friends to Virginia for the half marathon!

 

I slept MAYBE 2 hours the night before the half. There were four of us squished into a hotel room and I'm a really light sleeper. And I was nervous as hell. 4:45 a.m. came WAY too early, but up we were and by the time the 7 a.m. start time rolled around, I was ready to just get the damn thing over with. Humidity was at 90%, but at least it was overcast. The course advertised as "flat," but it was clearly all hills! 

 

Despite all that, all my mental freaking out and failed training plan, I absolutely FLEW through those first five miles. My average mile time for all my training runs had been between 11:41 and 12:30. My usual 5K time is around 35 minutes. But those first five miles? I was doing 10:00 miles. Holy moly was I flying!!! I knew I had to slow down, so I did, and settled into a nice pace with some walking interspersed to give myself some recovery time so I could keep trucking. I really don't like plodding along, so during all my training runs, I did this nice run-one-song-walk-one-song routine so I could run at a decent pace for half of the time instead of plod at a miserable pace for the full time. 

 

A lot of the course was not only hills, but also a weird dirt road! Nobody in my group was prepared for that. One of my friends has run a full marathon before and another has run 6 half marathons, and even they didn't run every step. That made me feel SO good about how I was doing. I felt great until mile 10 when pain started to settle in, but by then I was so close to done that it didn't matter. I also saved a baby turtle at mile 10, so that was a mood booster! This lil guy tinier than my palm was trying to scuttle across the road, so I stopped to move him to the other side so he wouldn't get stepped on. So cute! Also saw some bunnies and at one point I was running by a pasture and a horse and two ponies came out to run alongside the course. 

 

I crossed the finish line with an official time of 2:32:00. I think that comes out to an 11:36 mile? BUT BUT BUT according to my GPS I wore, I actually ran 14 miles (I weave around a lot), which actually set me at a sub-11:00 mile average. Which is a whole 1:30 faster than most of my training runs! I WAS SO PUMPED!!!! Three real training runs during the course of the whole prep period, and I logged a 2:32:00 and a faster mile average than ever. Crushed my 5K record. Crushed my 10K record. I felt like I was on top of the freakin' world.

 

TL;DR I failed at training for running and only did lifting/CrossFit leading up to a half marathon then I went out and crushed it and had a 24-hour endorphin rush that I may or may not still be high on and I've never felt this good about my life or this happy in a long time and everything is awesome.

 

[smbuckley23]

Ok honestly this is so inspiring to me! I do crossfit and lift and I hate running but I know I need to get better at it because it's probably my biggest (or most problematic) weakness. Granted, I've never run a 5K, but that's my first goal. Anyways, this made me so happy to read!! Awesome job!

[NeverThatBored]

Wow that's awesome!! Sounds like you had an epic run. 

 

+10 Karma for saving that baby turtle too. 

[wanderbound]

Congratulations, that's AWESOME!  Totally inspiring!!  Enjoy that rush, you totally deserve it!!

[heyarnold13]

Ok honestly this is so inspiring to me! I do crossfit and lift and I hate running but I know I need to get better at it because it's probably my biggest (or most problematic) weakness. Granted, I've never run a 5K, but that's my first goal. Anyways, this made me so happy to read!! Awesome job!

 

YES 5K is a great goal!!! Such a good distance. I did my first ran-all-the-way-through 5K in March (and ran a half-marathon just 2 months later) and it was so rewarding. If you have a really great playlist, the Zombies Run! app, or good scenery, anyone can do it. I think I'll be sticking to 10K and 5K distances from now on unless I do the Avengers or Disney Princess half-marathons, but I have zero regrets about doing it. Races make the running fun and not just a chore to tack onto your workouts. My brain equates running to burpees (quote: burpees hate you, too!) unless it's in a race setting. Sign up for a 5K fun run! Just do it! It's a doable distance for anyone, especially if you do crossfit and lifting, and you'll have a great time especially if you get some pals to sign up with you.

[smbuckley23]

YES 5K is a great goal!!! Such a good distance. I did my first ran-all-the-way-through 5K in March (and ran a half-marathon just 2 months later) and it was so rewarding. If you have a really great playlist, the Zombies Run! app, or good scenery, anyone can do it. I think I'll be sticking to 10K and 5K distances from now on unless I do the Avengers or Disney Princess half-marathons, but I have zero regrets about doing it. Races make the running fun and not just a chore to tack onto your workouts. My brain equates running to burpees (quote: burpees hate you, too!) unless it's in a race setting. Sign up for a 5K fun run! Just do it! It's a doable distance for anyone, especially if you do crossfit and lifting, and you'll have a great time especially if you get some pals to sign up with you.

 

The only problem is that there aren't any 5Ks in my area anytime soon! Which seems kind of weird because it seems like in past years there have been 5Ks all the time but now I can't find any!

[DJtrippyT]

This is fantastic! I'm super happy for you!