Hitting the finish line: I did it! You did it! We all did it!

Longest run: 13.1 miles - the Race! Time: 2:19. Felt: Like a million bucks

So, folks, last week marked the end of my personal challenge to run a half marathon and the end to the fund raiser for HopeLives. It was truly an awesome day and the best feeling of accomplishment I've had in a long time (or ever!). The day 54 degrees, a perfect temperature for running, and the rain held off til the last half mile of the race. I had the usual aches and pains, though a trip to an acupuncturist the day before and a soak in epsom salts I think helped with the severity of them. My hip held up great, though the next day my knees were shrieking at me. What have you done to us?!?!? Not to worry, by Tuesday they were back to bending and flexing as knees do.

The race itself was so much fun. Everyone was in great spirits, and I got to hang out and warm up with a few friends before the start. I actually was not nervous at all. I knew I could do it, I just wasn't sure how fast or in what shape I'd hit the finish line. When the race started, we were so far back we actually didn't even hit the starting line for 9 minutes. By then the start was so anticlimactic it just felt like any other run - with 8000 of my closest friends. By mile 4, I think, the first place runners were already heading back (so I think that must have been their mile 8). All of us regular people cheered and clapped for the elites as they passed by. Then the 2nd half was just thinking about pace, keeping hydrated, and at one point wrestling with my music selection. It was funny, because somehow I turned the volume all the way down and as I tried to figure out what happened to my iphone (pause, start, skip a song, no, go back. aughhhh), I ran up the big hill without really paying attention to the fact that I was running up a huge hill. I was a little disappointed when I got to the top and realized my music issue had ruined the hill experience for me. Oh well, by that point there were still 5 miles to go, so I still had plenty of miles to "experience." Mile 12 I powered up a small hill and instantly regretted it, as I realized I hadn't really had the juice to speed up at that point. It took me a little bit to recover, but the last mile of the race I was just excited, happy, and forgot about the fact that I could no longer feel my legs. An excellent friend of mine came all the way out Staten Island to cheer me on, and I saw her just as I was rounding the final corner and hitting the home stretch. That was all I needed to power through the last .3 miles. And if you look very closely at the video, I even sprinted (as much as one can sprint after 13 miles) to the finish. And that's it. I did it! And I loved it. I hope to do it again, as soon as my knees decide to forgive me.  
I didn't win any medals, but I DID beat 800 people, so surely there's some prize money in that, right? Well, of course there was a prize: somehow, against all odds and expectations, I raised close to $2400 for women's cancer support. I couldn't have asked for a better day!

4 days to go: smashing all expectations

Yesterday did my last mid-distance run: 6 miles at 11 min/mi. Felt awesome.

I seemed to have finally kicked the extreme stomach discomfort I'd been feeling in anything over 2 miles. Getting nutrition solved was a major issue: learning what I could (toast and liquids) and could not (pretty much anything else) put in my stomach within a couple hours of running.  It has been my biggest concern in the last couple weeks - more than muscle fatigue and lung capacity - the nausea and scratchy gut pain that might force me to walk. But now I think I've got that solved. I'm allowed a few peanut M&Ms if I get hungry and some watered-down Hammer Gel mid-run to keep energy up. Other than that and my half-toast with peanut butter in the morning, I'm steering clear of food until after I'm finished.

I'm also super excited to meet up with a couple of girls from my training class and some expert runner friends of mine who will undoubtedly leave me in the dust in the first few minutes of the race. But as my mom says, the race is not a competition. Haha. My goal is to stick to 11:30 or under minute mile and finish in 2:30 or less. Anything under 2:30 I'll be really proud of myself. (And proud of myself from getting out of bed so dang early on a Sunday. ugh).

In any case, for those of you who have been keeping up with the fundraiser, you already know that it's been an unbelievable success. Not only in raising money beyond my wildest expectations for such a worthy cause, but for all the non-monetary outpouring of support from friends, family and strangers alike. As of this writing, we are at over $2200!! You've made this all so worth it, and I hope to keep up with running and paying attention to my overall well-being well into the future. With any luck this blog won't end with the race on Sunday.
Cheers and good health,
Kelley