My First Half Marathon Recap

This was me 2 years ago.



This is me today.



I've lost 70+ lbs & discovered a love of running!

I ran my first half marathon today, the Geist Half Marathon, & this is my detailed recap. I'm posting here because I can't for the life of me figure out how to add pics to a blog post!



My day started bright (dark, actually) & early at 3am. I pretty much took naps all day on Friday after getting off work at 2am, so I probably got a decent amount of sleep cumulatively. I felt pretty darn good & ready to run a half marathon! It was an hour & a half drive to the race so we left at 4am to get there at 5:30am, right when packet pick up started. We were one of the first ones there so packet pick up was a breeze. For some reason, they didn't have any small tech shirts, so mine has to be mailed to me. I did get a free t-shirt from last year's 5k race. One can never have too many t-shirts. lol.

After picking up my packet, we went back to the car so I could eat my Luna bar, drink some water, & get my bib pinned on. Then, we decided to go ahead & take the shuttle (school bus) to the start of the race, which was about a mile from the packet pick up & parking area. The race began on a bridge over the water & while it was very overcast, it was still very pretty. The temperature was 64 degrees with 100% humidity & a thunderstorm just missed us.


Blurry iPhone pic

We had about an hour until the start of the race so we people watched & I made good use of the porta-potty. The time passed quickly & before I knew it, it was time to line up.



They had jets fly over in formation after the national anthem, which was pretty cool!

I started between the 1:15 & 1:30 markers & my first mile was a little slower than I would have liked. It was pretty crowded at first but we started to space out a little more after the first mile. My legs felt really good & my breathing felt pretty easy considering the humidity. The course took us around the reservoir so it was very scenic with a lot of bridges over the water & gorgeous million dollar homes. There were a lot of people sitting out along the course cheering us on, playing music, & holding up funny signs. I felt like the race went so quickly!

I had read race recaps that had me very worried about the hills, but they really weren't that bad. The hill at mile 7.5 was much smaller than I envisioned & I didn't have to walk at any point. In fact, I didn't even realize I had already conquered the "big hill" until I looked down at my Garmin & it said 8.10. I thought, "That was the big hill?!?" lol. I was so relieved! I didn't stop for Gatorade until mile 9 & the next 3 stations after that. I didn't really start feeling tired until mile 11 & those last 2 miles were a little rough, but I definitely think I could have picked up the pace sooner than I did. I passed a lot of people in the last 1.1 miles. Now I know for next time! It also started raining at around mile 12 & it felt wonderful!

I finished in 02:07:56, much better than I ever imagined for my first half!

Sprinting to the finish.


At the finish with my medal.


I was a little disappointed in the finish area. The only thing that was left when I finished was bottled water & soggy cookies. There was supposed to be chocolate milk, fruit, granola bars, etc. I'm not sure what happened, but it was nothing like the website described. There was also supposed to be a local restaurant catering with sandwiches & things but they were nowhere to be found. I'm guessing because of the rain, maybe. It started coming down pretty good right after I finished. We did however find the free beer!



The pain was starting to set in at this point, so we finished the beer & headed over to the shuttle that took us back to the parking area. My legs are extremely sore & I'm having a lot of difficulty walking, but it's totally worth it & I will definitely be running another half marathon!


My pretty medal!