13.1

I did it!! I ran 13.1 miles in Austin on February 14th. I would post an awesome picture or two, but of course I am bad and we only took one, in the hotel room, AFTER the race. bad Meghan. I need to work on it.

So the race was great! It was a bit chilly when we started but it of course warmed up quickly. I had on a running jacket of sorts and didn't think to take it off until around mile 8. I realized there that I could take it off and tied it around my waist. That was such a debacle in itself - it literally took me 5 minutes to get the darn thing off (I was at a complete stop at this point) because I had to un pin my bib from my jacket and then pin it back on my shirt/fuel belt. Another disaster waiting to happen is with the water stops/bathroom. I thought it was smart to stop at every water stop on the course to drink water. What can I say? I love water and I get thirsty. I also do better when I am hydrated. So, about mile 4 or so I really had to go to restroom. already. Problem is, the lines at the restrooms are about 10 people deep along the course. Smart move, Meghan. So I searched and searched along the course for a bathroom that was hidden and no one new about. I succeeded, but I just had to run a ways off the course. This took another 5 minutes or so. Oh well, ya win some, ya lose some. I learned lots of what not to do for my next race. And hopefully, next race my time will be 10 minutes faster. But let's be honest, I am not worried about time at all! My last mistake was wearing new shoes for the race. The shoes I have been wearing, the Brooks Adrenaline GTS, usually have no break in time. So I thought it would be fine if I wore a new pair for the race. WRONG. Brooks changed the model up a bit, and part of the tongue on the shoe began to rub my skin raw. It didn't feel good. I also think the shoes might have been responsible for causing annoying foot pain that is still hanging around...

I was worried about the hills along the course prior to the race. I hadn't done much hill training, just a little treadmill work. In all honestly, they weren't that bad at all - until the end. The last three miles were killer, and full of HUGE, GINORMOUS hills. Well maybe like one or two hills. Keep in mind I hadn't run a distance over 10 miles prior to the race, so the last three miles were going to be a bit of a struggle for me anyway. Add big hills on top of that, and you get a slooooooow last three miles for Meghan. But that's okay, I still finished, even if I was half jogging up those hills. I saw few people actually running up them. The angle was so steep and awkward that it was pretty much impossible to run up that last hill.

The rest of the course was fun and the miles just went by so fast!! I loved running with so many other people. It makes it easy to keep going and is so motivating.

I am so excited that I can check off "run a half marathon" on my bucket list! I loved it and I am going to continue doing more races and hopefully another half marathon if I can get my foot healed up. I have REALLY missed running these last couple of weeks and can't wait to get back into it. I am a little nervous, because I don't want to re-injure my foot, but hopefully I can slowly ease back into a running routine.