shelbyjean replied to your post:This Sunday I am running my first half-marathon. …

I just ran my first one in december! Im sure youll be fine and no matter what your time is, it will be a huge accomplishment simply to finish. Most people dont run that long. Good luck! :)

Thank you so much! I did finish with a slower time than I’d wanted (2:11:46). It was actually well off the pace I can normally sustain on a long run. BUT, I finished it, and in the end, that was my overall goal anyway.

It was a-MAY-zing. There were so many people, I’ve never run in a race that huge before, and the energy was infectious. There were 300 people alone in my gender and age group (25-34 now, jesus I am old).

The weather was indeed shit. It wasn’t as cold as I thought it would be, and the rain was light enough that it didn’t necessitate a jacket, but it was constant and present. It was windy, especially by the lake. Once the race was over, I froze. It was a point to point, so our car was 21km away. There was a shuttle, which was at least a kilometre from the finish line. My poor aching feet could barely walk there. Then, the dropoff point for the shuttle was another 10min walk from our parking spot. We were wet and freezing and hungry - the food was terrible. They offered granola bars, an apple, a quarter of a plain bagel with no spread, and/or half a banana. Dude, I’ve been to a cheaper 5k race that had better food than that.

In the end, I am so glad I did it. I’m not sure I’ll ever do another.

Now, I am off to Hawaii next weekend to get married. Woot!