Since my total mileage over the Ragnar weekend was 12.8, that got me pretty close to a half marathon even though it wasn't all at the same time. I started to realize that I might actually be able to do it. I have never - ever - had a desire to do a full or a half. But it was starting to feeling like my training might feel a little wasted if I didn't at least try the half marathon. Who knew if I would ever be physically in a place to do it again.
So I did it.
It was an early morning to get to the OC Fair grounds to catch the shuttle that would take me to Fashion Island for the start line. There were A LOT of people (learned later there were about 10,000 in the half).
The marathon started at 5:30 and the half started at 6:15am. There were a lot of port-a-potties at the start line, and the line was still huge. AND they were already out of toilet paper. Lovely.
I was in corral 4 and they released each corral about 5 minutes apart.
I had read a lot of tips leading up to the race, one being to run the first half slower than your normal pace. So I relaxed and took it easy from the beginning. I haven't run many races yet, so one thing that was hard for me was weaving around other people. I was a little surprised (and annoyed) that there didn't seem to be a common etiquette for walkers to move off to the side so that runners could easily pass.
The route took us through beautiful areas of Balboa and Newport Beach...lots of big ritzy homes. It didn't go along the water as much as I would have liked, but it was still nice.
I expected to run about 5 miles per hour and my goal was to finish in 2 hours 45 minutes. I hit the first 5 miles right on track, but had to take a potty break, so that ate up about 2 minutes of my time. At mile 7, I hit a bit of a wall - there was a big hill, I was getting tired and feeling the struggle of only being a little more than half way done. Somehow my iPod knew because Janet Jackson came on singing about her Nasty Boys and that was all I needed. Then Justin Timberlake brought his Sexy Back and I was good to go. It also helped that the big hill was followed by some beautiful bluffs.
One thing that was really cool was the people that cheer you on. Many had fun signs ("Worst Parade Ever"), kids waiving from their house windows, and one group independently handing out pretzels, peach cups and water.
Mile 10 I hit still on pace. From there it was just a matter of running a 5K, right? I've done that before...no problem! Ha!
Passing the Mile 11 marker I was really slowing down and hurting. My left arch had been bothering me since pretty early on and it seemed to be started to affect the rest of my leg. I had to walk a lot more. I started calculating that "if all I do is walk from here (or here or here)" I would still finish by such-and-such a time. That turned into if I at least walk one minute and run one minute, that would be faster than only walking. In other words, the last 2 miles were tough and I just had to keep moving somehow to make it through.
But...I made it!
Hallelujah! That finish line looked so sweet!
My total clocked time was 2:51, but my watch said 2:49 because I stopped it for my 2-minute potty break. Only four minutes over my goal is pretty darn good I think.
Immediately after, I was hurting. I wanted to saw my left leg off. Any incline was a mountain to me.
I stuck around for a while to watch a friend of mine in the marathon. My mom met me at home and gave me a good rub down which I think was my saving grace.
All in all, I'm actually quite proud of myself for accomplishing it. It took me a couple of days, but I did eventually start thinking I might like to do another half marathon. It's amazing how good the feeling is to finish.
