I ran a half marathon today

I ran a half marathon today. The whole thing. I've only ever completed a 10K race before, and I only got up to 7 miles in my training for this event before the summer heat and life's happy distractions derailed my training schedule. So I was definitely not conditioned for this, but I decided to participate and do my best, and probably walk a good deal of it.

At the start, I thought I'd run the first 5K or so, and then switch to run/walk intervals. Once I finished that distance, I decided to go a little further and shoot for 5 miles running. Then half the race. Then I thought I'd aim to best my previous longest run of 7 miles. Then I figured it would be awesome if I could run 10 miles. And then... I just decided that I was going for the whole damn thing.

My knee started to ache a bit around mile 5, and by mile 10 it was truly painful. But by then I was too close to give up, so I used the long-sleeved underarmour shirt that was tied around my waist as a knee brace, tied around my leg at the knee for some makeshift Macgyver'd support. And through sheer will and determination, I gritted my teeth and kept going, ignoring the pain as best as I could, and counting off the remaining miles.

When I came around the last curve and saw the finish line, I was surprised by how emotional I became. I started crying, and that's how the photographer snapped my image as I crossed the line - arms raised in triumph, my shirt wrapped around my knee, and tears on my cheeks. As soon as I'm able to order the photo, I'll post it here.

13.1 miles. Wow.

I guess I really *can* do anything I set my mind to.