I Rocked The Half!

On Sunday, December 9th, I participated in my first White Rock 1/2 Marathon. After 3+ months of training and hard work, I knew I was prepared enough to do my best and cross the finish line.

It took a lot of preparation and organization leading up to the event, and it helps to have friends doing it with you. Saturday afternoon I headed to the Runner's Expo with Kacy, Janee, Tammi and Amie to pick up our runners' packets and to browse around at all the different gear on display.


After a picture or two, purchasing our energy goo, jelly beans and some new cold-weather gear, we were then ready for our long-awaited carb meal at Maggiano's. For 5 girls, the family-style servings was more than enough food, but we still were able to clear a few plates...and shots (of Vitamin C.)


After plenty of pasta and carbs, I headed home to get my stuff all ready to go and was in bed and asleep at 9:45. My alarm was set for 5:45 Sunday morning to get out of bed and start gearing up. I picked Chris up from his house at 7:15 and we headed down to the AAC to meet up with the rest of Team Chelada.



The weather forecast was not looking so good for us. 40 degrees and rain was in our running future, so we were a little worried about how our pace would be in conditions we hadn't trained for much. Lucky for us, it was chilly but just shy of miserable and the rain held off for the most part. There was a little drizzle, but nothing to keep us from reaching our own personal goals. For various reasons, my training schedule had slowed down at the end, and pair that with the unpleasant running conditions, I was nervous that I wouldn't keep a satisfying pace. I talked to some other runners who had previously done halves and full marathons, and they said not to worry about pace, just finish - that's all you have to do...just cross the finish line. Taking their advice into consideration, I set a very reasonable goal for myself of finishing the 13.1 miles in 2 hours and 45 minutes. Turns out, only half of the challenge is your body strength and training, the other half is mental. With all the determination I had and the adrenaline rushing, I finished in 2 hours, 26 minutes and 2 seconds - which averages out to be just at 11 minutes a mile. I was extremely proud of myself, and knew I would have a pretty good time since my pace was gradually speeding up as I hit each mile marker. My pace as I crossed the line was at 9 minutes and 45 seconds. The last mile was brutal, and I don't know if I was just so anxious or if it was because I was running at such a fast pace, but it felt as if it were 3 miles. As I rounded the corner and saw the balloons, cheering crowds, cameras, and finish line, I knew I had made it. It was such a proud moment for me. I loved it and can't wait to do another one.