13.1 in 2:27!!!

things I heard while running the half marathon:

1. because I was in corral #22 I got to hear the man count down to others starting lots of times. I kind of liked it, gave me to time to get prepared mentally and get really excited for when it was my time!

2. LOTS of cheering! I think the best part was that there was hardly a place where there wasn't anyone cheering. When you train, you don't have people cheering for you every step of the way...this was really nice.

3. personal encouragement - I couldn't believe how many people I saw on the side lines cheering that I knew. I was expecting my mom to be at a certain point but I didn't expect how much it would mean for me to have her there when I saw her. though she didn't have the camera ready...it was still nice to see her. AND I had tons of friends passing out water, that was soooo very nice and great to see a friendly face with my source of hydration!

4. bad country music - I had a love/hate relationship with the live bands along the course. Some of them were ok, but a lot of times I didn't like it. I took a friend's advice and didn't use my ipod until after I got to mile 7. I think I liked the bands before I had my ipod in but once I had it in, I would get frustrated I couldn't hear my music...though I actually have no idea what songs I listened to on my ipod when I ran...I don't remember a single one.

5. congratulations - thank you to all my friends who called, texted, showed up at the finish line and prayed for me during and after the race. It was so nice to have your support and encouragement along the way and when I finished.

things I learned from this race that I need to remember for the next one:

1. when you spend money on good socks, it is totally worth it, and come race day when you can only find 1 good sock and thus run with 1 good and 1 bad...it's probably better to just run with 2 bad.

2. Pack toilet paper in your gear check...you just ran 13.1 miles and you're going to need to use that bathroom ... in one of the port-a-potties...bring toilet paper.

3. That last ".1" is the longest tenth of a mile ever


4. make sure your friends know what you are wearing so they can find you at the finish line.
5. BREATHE! so many times I would start praying, singing, or thinking about dumb things and would totally forget to breathe...it's quite necessary.



I LOVED running on Saturday. It was so much fun to run with 30,000 other runners. Somewhere along the way...among the months of training, running in the cold, spending hours on the treadmill, and finding the perfect race day outfit I have become a runner. I think I like it. Maybe I have a new hobby...we'll see.

Thanks again to all of those who came out! You really did make a difference!