My First Half Marathon!

Hi everyone!

I know I have not been posting much recently but I knew I had to write about my experience this past Sunday. I ran my first half marathon ever! It was frightening, tiring, painful, fun, long, and amazing all at the same time! I met my goal, and that was to finish. No matter how freaking tired I was, I was going to walk it or crawl it. And yes, I did walk some of it. But it was worth it. My time was 2 hours and 54 minutes which was not as good as I wanted, but at least I can say I finished under 3 hours! I was amazed at how encouraging people were throughout the race. There were people ringing bells, holding up motivating signs, yelling, "you can dot it!" at the top of their lungs. It made me want to run even faster! At the finish line, there was a lady holding all the medals and as I crossed the line, she came up to me, put the medal around my neck and said, "Great job, this is the worst its gonna get, from here on out everything's gonna be a piece of cake!". I didn't believe her because at the moment, all I was thinking in my head was, how am I going to be able to finish a full marathon when I am in excruciating pain and there's blood on my ankle? All I wanted to do was collapse. But, now that I think about it, I think she was right. Not that it will be easy, but my body will be adjusted to long distances like this and I will be more prepared for it.
Another great thing I enjoyed about this race was being able to think while running. I was able to ponder on my goals and how faithful God has been the past year. However, the first time I walked during the race I thought to myself, "don't walk! You're supposed to run this! Walking doesn't count as effort!". I was beating myself up about it, telling myself negative things and then I just looked around me and saw other super fit people walking as well. Then I just thought, "why am I complaining? There are people who can't even walk. I should be thankful that I have the ability to walk AND run". That alone got me through the pain and the hills, oh and the thought of food also got me through the race. I was thinking, "I get food at the end, I get food at the end, I get food at the end!". And yes, I got lots of food: there were bagels, bananas, Luna bars (my favorite!), and some fish tacos (which I did not eat).
Overall, the race was such an amazing accomplishment worth training for and I am SO ready for the many races to come! I'm so thankful that I got to run this race and share my experience with everyone here on the blog. If you ever are thinking about running a race like this one, DO IT! It is so much fun, especially when you do it with friends or family. I did it with my sister and we enjoyed every moment of it. Here are some pictures from the event:

1. My shirt, medal, and race number.

 2. At the finish line. Yay for frizzy hair!

3. My sister and I before and after the race!

 Thanks for reading! Merry Christmas!