I did it! On Saturday I completed my first half marathon. It took me 2 hours, 14 minutes and 52 seconds. My feet went numb in the last half of the race, there was a mean and awful hill just before the 10k mark, and then a handful of rolling and wretched hills after that. The course was packed, with something like 30,000 runners, I munched almonds to keep myself going and felt surprisingly good for most of the race.
I’d spent so much time worrying about stomach cramps and dehydration and injuries that I felt sure the worry would manifest itself into some sort of super suck, but it didn’t. I felt surprisingly calm as I crossed the start, excited for what was to come and awake with the feeling of doing something I’ve been working toward since December.
It hardly seems real, even three days post-race. I remember running the thing, know I did it, ached from it, but the thought that I moved my own body, with my own body, 13.1 miles seems absolutely insane and nearly unbelievable. That’s a long distance to move yourself and it wasn’t all that long ago, maybe a few years, that I ran my first 5k and couldn’t manage to run the full thing and then, on Saturday, I ran 13.1 miles, stopping three times to loosen the laces of my running shoes but never – not once – walking.
I’m so proud of myself. It seems weird to say that ab0ut me, but I am. I really like quitting. I really like stopping when things are hard and uncomfortable, but I haven’t and I didn’t. In running, more than anything else, I’ve pushed and tried and achieved, and that feels like a really big deal.
There’s nothing I’ve ever done in such a short amount of time that’s taught me more about the person I am than training for a half marathon. I’ve learned how my body responds to stress, the things that my body is capable of and so much more about me, as a person, both good and bad. It’s been an incredible journey, this training period, and I finally feel like a runner.
On the way home from DC, post-blogger brunch, I drove past the Washington Monument, near where the race had started, and giggled. I said it out loud, to no one but myself, that I had a run a half marathon. And I’m pretty sure I’m going to do it again.
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So proud of you Terra Bear! This post gave me all the warm fuzzies. Can’t wait to see you in a few months!
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Thanks, lady!! Can’t wait for May either – it’s going to be amazing!!
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so proud of you, terra! you rocked it! i hope one day we can do a race together. blogger meetup races are so awesome and you guys look like you had so much fun. congratulations!! 🙂
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Thanks & I would absolutely love to do a race together some day! I was so thankful to have Tara there with me, and Nicole too, since the half marathon was all new to me and it was nice to not be alone on race day.
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Look at you badass! Congratulations! So when is the next one?
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I’ve got a 10k in April and few fun & mud runs coming up, but I’m thinking I might run the Richmond Half in November…
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Amazing. So so proud of you and happy for you.
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Thanks!
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aw.
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YEAHHHHHHHHHHHH! YOU DID IT! I’m proud of you, too! <3 <3 <3
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Love all of this; so happy and excited and (as silly as it may sound) proud of you! xo
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I don’t think that it’s weird at all that you are proud of yourself- I was proud of myself after my half. It’s quite an accomplishment!
Congrats again lady!
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hurray! congrats lady, that is awesome.
also you look way too cute for just running 13 miles, i mean seriously.
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T., I am SO SO SO PROUD of you!!! I know how hard you’ve wrestled with the whole quitting when it gets hard thing, and I am beyond happy & excited for you that you pushed through it, and have made such a leap forward, and achieved this tremendous goal!!! CONGRATULATIONS!!!
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Incredible job, Terra! 🙂
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I am so freakin proud of you, Terra! You ran like a rockstar and you did it! You stuck to it, you overcame your foot aches and obstacles and you did it! You have come so far just a couple years – I’ll say it again. I am so proud of you! Yes, be proud of yourself! You earned it! I had so much fun out there cheering you on. Way to go!
You can’t call yourself a person who likes to quit anymore. 🙂
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you know, i never get over the crazy distance thing. even a year and a half after my first race i am always thinking about how crazy it is that my body ran 13.1 miles. sometimes when i am driving and see that i am about 13 miles from my destination i’m just like WHAT THE WHAT DO YOU MEAN I’VE RUN THAT FAR BEFORE????
also, you are amazing and i am so happy you have caught the running bug too and cannot wait to run all the races together forever and ever.
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Woo hoo! Congrats, Terra! Man, I just read Nicole’s post on the DC Half marathon, too. You ladies have me all inspired to sign up for a half!
Also, happy belated birthday. Glad you had a good one. 🙂
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You’ll never look at Washington DC the same again – and it’s great! Congrats on such a worthy accomplishment!