My First Half Marathon!!!

JennaM222 · June 2012

2:36:45

I Ran my first half marathon this weekend in Duluth, MN. Grandmas. People were there from ALL over the country and WORLD even.

I started out my training March 26, 2012. I followed my training up to early may, and then just stopped. I’d do some runs here and there, but never ran more than 5 miles. Literally, I never have. Then, Race day was here.

We headed out Friday morning from MPLS and arrived to beautiful Duluth, MN in about 2 hours. Friday night we watched princess diaries & Mean Girls in our hotel. We gossiped, laughed, ate cold pasta and chips, and tried to get to bed at a decent time.

3:45 AM sat Morning my alarm is going off. Holy (insert every swear word in the book) It is race day. I put my face on, put my gel glide on, clipped my chip and bib on, and then it was time to load onto the shuttles.

It was a beautiful morning. I couldn’t have asked for a better day running 13.1 along Lake Superior. The sun was shining and the humidity wasn’t a bother. We are in line with 7,000 something other people ready to take off. At this point I was ready to either puke, pee, or poop my pants I was so nervous.

BANG the gun sounds and we start to move. Miles 1-4 were actually the toughest for me. All I thought about was hitting mile 6 and I could consider myself half way there. Mile 6. Omg, I love you mile 6. This is when I really felt like I was going to do this. I AM doing this.

Mile 7. Stop to walk a bit. OUCH did that hurt. Walking hurt more than running….who would have thought? I wanted to stop so many times, but I seriously couldn’t. My body kicked my mind’s *kitten*. Just KEEP going, and I did.

Mile 12. I have never been happier to see this number on a piece of paper before in my life. It hurts. My blisters are killing me, and my knees want to give out. THEN I see the finish line.

People are cheering for me, I am almost there. Holy crap, I just ran 13.1 miles. Tears welled up in my eyes. I DID IT. I freakin’ did it.

http://www.mtecresults.com/runner/videoResults?rid=16372&race=735

(Purple long sleeves crossing second in the video)

The above video is me crossing the finish line. I NEVER in my life thought that I could ever complete a half marathon. I am so darn proud of myself, and my team of girls who raced together. My mother, at age 57, ran and finished in 2:13. She is AMAZING. My Official chip finish time was 2:36:45 and I am damn proud of that.

Oh, and Of course we had a plethora of beers after to celebrate!

"Anything is possible, but you have to believe and you have to fight."