September 12, 2011

13.1

In Honor of the 9-11 Victims...

Well, it is done. I have completed my half marathon. I have to say I enjoyed it much more than I thought I would. My wonderful mother ran with me the whole time. We were shoulder to shoulder every step. I loved that I was able to have someone encourage me through it. I know for sure I wouldn't be able to do it alone.

Here is what I learned on the race day:

  1. There is an excessive amount of people awake, happy, and ready to run at 5:30 am. 
  2. The crowd of runners does not thin out during the race, that is unless you can run it under an hour.
  3. There are countless Port-a-Potties before the starting line and during the race.
  4. Make sure to drink your water all the way gone, or throw it far from your feet. Wet socks aren't fun. 
  5. People gather all the way down the route to cheer for complete strangers.
  6. There is a lot of free food after the race.
  7. Walking to your car after the race might be worse than running.
  8. Mile 10 is longer than 1 mile. ( not literally)
I honestly had fun. I don't think running could be fun, but I loved that people came out and supported their loved ones, but also strangers. I enjoyed reading the signs supporters made and giving out high fives. I heard that after running your first half marathon, you get the itch to do another. My legs are sore; I have no desire to run twenty minutes, but I have a strong itch to run with complete strangers down a never ending cement path at 7 am again.  

After The Race
After we finished the race, we (my mom, sister and I) headed to the hotel, got cleaned up, and meet Jamie, Thys and his girlfriend for a wonderful breakfast. We ate so much that we all had food babies. Our babies were probably bigger than Kay's little peanut. Anyone looking for a breakfast place in Chicago try West Egg. It is delicious. After stuffing ourselves, we headed to Michigan Ave, and when I said headed I mean walked( remember this is after our race). We shopped for a while and I tried on clothes that I would never buy, but are suppose to be really trendy. I ended up getting a few cold weather things. We got dinner with Melissa and her mom and friend at Billy Goats Tavern. That was interesting. Food was decent, their attitude was not so cool. But I guess they are known for it. I had to go back to Trinity around 7. Megan and Jamie dropped me off at the train stop. Yup, I rode the train back alone. A little scary, but I sat by other college aged girls. Other than the man asking us to use our phone, while by passing about 10 other passengers nothing happened. ( Don't worry mom, I didn't let use mine). 

My weekend was really great. It flew by. I enjoyed every painful muscle from that weekend. I do feel accomplished!

2 comments:

  1. The wet socks thing made me laugh. I'm so glad you did as well as you did. I was rooting for you!

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  2. haha the wet socks thing made laugh to. and the # 1 thing you learned. hahaha. lets do another!

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