One week ago I completed my first official half marathon (13.1 miles).  The experience is not one that I will soon forget.

I’ve been training since January to complete a full marathon and this past weekend was a step toward that future goal.  To put it briefly, I got it done.  This stepping stone made me slightly more confident that I could take on the beast that is finishing a full marathon.  My longest walk, to date, is 18 miles.  Therefore, I’ve (unofficially) completed several half marathons already, but there was a newfound batch of nerves waiting for me at the starting line.  

At the health expo the evening before the race, I headed into Philadelphia with the girls to pick up all our race gear, including the all important bib.  Jenny and I quickly realized that though we purchased the Groupon for the entry into the half marathon, we hadn’t actually registered for the race.  Duh!  (Apparently, many of the Groupon customers made this same oversight.)  Thankfully we were able to register on the spot using our coupon code.  Our bib numbers and corral were generated based off of our 3 hour estimated finish time, which was generous.  My fastest 13 mile walk had been around 3 hours and 20 minutes.  The volunteer cheerfully smiled as he handed me my race bib with the number 6500 printed on the front.  I’d be starting in corral 6….out of 24!  I was convinced that there’d been a mistake.  Don’t races such as this put the faster finishers closer to the front…

I woke up at 4:30am on September 17th.  The butterflies banging around my stomach must have been of prehistoric proportions.  Why was I so nervous?  I’d done this distance before, hadn’t I?  I rolled out of bed, ate my toast with fig jelly and then began my journey to the starting line.

The girls and I arrived about an hour before our start time, which would give us plenty of time to look around, stretch, and go to the bathroom a few times.  I spent much of that extra time people watching.  There were runners (and walkers) of all kinds there.  I could easily tell the professional runners from the novices.  The pros were doing real serious stretches and then jogging around the starting area.  All other people were casually stretching and talking, and above all looking nervously at those jogging around before the starting gun even sounded.  I committed to saving all of my jogging energy for the course.  Another way to differentiate the professional runners from everyone else is they wore exceedingly less and less clothing.  The women donning sports bras and tiny shorts, while the men couldn’t bother being burdened with the extra weight of a shirt and similar teeny shorts.  I felt a bit overdressed with my tank and capri leggings.  My anxiety levels were steadily rising.

I’ve always found when I want time to slow down or speed up, it always seems to do the opposite.  Before I knew it, Jenny and I began to make our way forward to corral six.  I felt like a fraud as I passed people who appeared to be in better shape than myself.  I suggested, on more than one occasion, that we hang back, maybe not go ALL the way forward to our designated corral.  Jenny made her way through the thickening mass of people, encouraging me along the way.  When we finally made it to corral six I noticed that there were people with many different corral numbers gathered.  We met a nice lady named Bridget who told us that she was on the Rock n’ Roll Half Marathon Tour, traveling from Tennessee.  She wore a bib that had a corral in the twenties.  She explained that she always moves forward in order to give herself more time to finish.  Listening to Jenny and Bridget small talk helped to calm me.  There were a few moments when I felt close to tearfully bailing on the whole thing.  But, eventually the starting horn sounded and we were on our way, swept up in the herd of people barreling toward the finish line.

The streets of downtown Philadelphia were filled with crowds cheering and holding signs of encouragement both for individual runners as well as witty posters to keep up the spirits of all maneuvering the course.  The positive vibes were high and I felt them propelling me forward.  My running app reported my times to me after the completion of each mile and they were faster than what I’d been training.  I prayed that I wasn’t pushing myself too hard in the beginning, fearing that my energy might crash as the miles added up.  Every mile or so there were bands performing to keep the energy up.  They were ok.  The drumline on Fairmount was by far my favorite.  It was amazing how many individuals and groups had come out and set up along the route including a cheerleading squad and multiple people playing their instruments for the enjoyment of the runners.  These sweet volunteers were doubly appreciated the farther we went because I was feeling the effects of the walk seeping into my joints and there was a diminishing crowd of cheering onlookers to keep me motivated.

Around mile ten Jenny suggested that we run the last mile.  I was hesitant.  I’d begun a new strategy of speed walking and jogging to help help my muscle groups alternate between being active and resting.  Running a mile seemed like it might be too much.  We compromised at running the last half mile.  As we neared the finish line, the crowds began to slowly increase again.  Their cheers filled me with the energy to cross the finish line strong!  Jenny and I high fived each other and I dissolved into tears when saw my family and was embraced by my husband.  [Tears are my way of expressing every emotion from exhaustion, to happiness, to sadness, to anger.]  The way Kyle hugged me brought to mind that I wouldn’t have been able to have this moment of accomplishment if he hadn’t been supporting me along the way.  It felt amazing to see my sons, my sister, my mom, and my mother-in-law cheering me on.  My heart was full and my legs were tired!  I’d done it….and I wasn’t last!

Since then, I took a week off of training to allow my body to recuperate.  I needed to let my aching knees rest and the blisters on my feet heal.  This morning I once again laced up my shoes and headed out for a walk/jog.  I intended to do four miles and ease my way back into training, but the excessive heat and humidity made me stop at three.  One thing that marathon training has taught me is to listen to my body.  It felt good to get back out.  Now my eyes are set on the goal of completing the Philadelphia Marathon on November 19th.  I’m filled with trepidation, but I’m going to train as best as I can to prepare my body for the torture I’m paying to participate in.  So, I’ll keep saying my mantra as I walk and jog “I am a walker, I am a runner, I am a marathoner.  I can do all things because God is with me!”

What 2017 goals are you accomplishing?