First Half Marathon

We just got back tonight from the Rock n Roll Half Marathon at VA Beach. Thanks Nicole for inviting me to do this with you! I had a blast. This post, is just about the race, more to come about the experience surrounding it...

A big THANK YOU goes out to Matt for driving us around, getting up at 5AM to drop us off and cheering us on while we were on our last legs (literally).

We walked several blocks to the start line where we searched out bananas and port o potties and then lined up in corral 12 to wait. You know how much I love to wait, but we were glad that we weren't that far back in line because I thought I had changed my corral number the day before. Little did I know that I needed the little green sticker with the number on it... we got pushed back to corral #22... more waiting :) This actually turned out to be a good thing, but I was a little put off by having to move.

After the Elite runners took off we slowly moved forward while doing the wave every once in a while. Then it was our turn... 7:36AM ... off we went.

Something happens to me at races where I get this adrenaline rush and just take off... I realized after the first mile that I was going faster than I expected to, but thought I would even out later on... no so much, the competitive side came out and I started thinking, I can keep this up... maybe? The bands, cheerleaders and race atmosphere kept me going, not to mention a little Silver on the iPod and a few worship songs as well.

We saw Matt around mile 11 and 12 (thus the photos). I ran over to him to try to give him a kiss and he wasn't quite sure what I was doing, thought I was trying to whisper something in his ear, and not to mention I was kind of disgusting, but I got my kiss at mile 11 and kept trucking to the end.

After I crossed the finish line I thought I was going to pass out, the adrenaline was gone and all I wanted was water and a bathroom, but I had to wait to find Matt and Nicole amongst the crowds of thousands... this was the hardest part of the entire day. Everyone else seemed to be only concerned about getting their free beer... some how I couldn't fathom drinking a beer... there were even people drinking in route... has anyone heard of alcohol being an athletic beverage before?

We eventually found each other at the "R" for Royal and Rowe and headed back to the car, relaxation, shower and naps... Later on in the evening we went back out to celebrate. Those pictures and stories are still to come.

Click here to see my results, not bad for my first time :)