I run like a girl!

So excited!   I met my goal of running a half-marathon (13.1 miles)!   Some friends and I went down to Kansas City on Friday and ran Saturday morning! 

It was super windy and cold on Friday night.  We went to dinner at Panera where we had some "carbs" so we could feel like real runners!  Haha!  We also wanted to keep our food normal and familiar...didn't want any upset stomachs...our nerves were already doing enough!

We also took time to drive the course and check out what we were in for.  A few uphills, but plenty of downhills to make up for it.  A fun route through the main streets of downtown KC, around  the WWI memorial drive, past the huge Sprint Center arena, past parks and water fountains, through some quaint shopping areas and one fancy one, down a street of great old beautiful stone and brick homes, and back downtown again!

We had a nice room at the Sheraton.  It was also the place where packet-pick up/registration was and was only 1 block from the Start/Finish line!   Perfect!   We had a room on the 35th floor. The ride up and down was "fun" to say the least (popping ears and rising tummys), and the view was awesome!

We were able to get up bright and early (5am).  The wind was kind enough to leave so although it was 43 degrees, it felt more like the 50ish I had gotten used to in my early morning runs.  We had a final potty break and headed down to line up for the race (start time 7:05).

I have been trying for months not to let myself get too anxious or nervous about the race.  I knew it would only make things worse.  I tried to make myself think of it as just another long run on a Saturday.   I didn't stress out about trying to get a certain time.  Just tried to focus on relaxing and going with a pace my body was comfortable with.   I decided ahead of time when I would stop for water or eat something to keep my energy up.   It seemed to pay off.  I am not fast by any means, but I was able to run the whole time except for the couple of times I walked when I got water!   Yay!

My hands did kind of freeze up.  I didn't feel that cold, but I guess my hands felt it.  I tried to ignore it...it did become a challenge to reach into my pocket and grab a couple of my energy "sport beans" I had with me!

There were lots of great signs along the way like:   Run!  The Zombies are coming!   Your legs are still there--I promise!   Your legs are only sore because you are kicking so much tail!  Channing Tatum is at the finish line!  

I felt a flood of emotion at the end, but it didn't last long because I had to concentrate on not falling over!   When a lady handed me a medal after the finish it fell because my fingers were so frozen I couldn't grasp it right away!  Lol  My friend who finished before me was waiting and holding a banana.  She said she had just been walking around holding it because her fingers were too frozen to peel it! 

Lots of stretching and taking pics and trying to keep warm.  Then we went up to our room and relaxed and showered and packed up for the trip home.  We all wore our t-shirts and medals the rest of the day.  We wore them into Sam's Club, which we stopped at to get much deserved goodies for the drive home and out to lunch at Panera.   They are really good conversation starters!   We talked to a guy at Sam's who was like, "Oh, yeah...I ran that when I was 60...".   Wow!  

When I arrived home, wearing my medal, Little Sis. came running and gave me a hug.  Then she saw my medal and asked, "Wow!  Did you win?!?"   A couple of the other kids asked, "What place did you get?"   Hahahahaha...if only they knew.  I tried to explain that most people run this for fun...or to reach their own goals....not necessarily to place.   They must be too used to their Dad who consistently finished in the top 10 with his bike racing.....Anyhow, I looked it up and I got something like 3481st place overall.   Makes me laugh....the place really doesn't matter.  I had a great time and am so happy I was able to do this!   I will be taking a week off to recover and then on to the next running adventure!