My First Half Marathon!

Shamrock'n Half Marathon
Distance: (13.1 miles) Time: 1 hour 44 min. 37 sec.

Sunday morning March 16th, I attempted my first half marathon. I had been training specifically for this event for the past 2.5 months. Temperature was in the high 40's, clear with 25 mph winds. The race took place in West Sacramento near Raley's field the home of the River Cats. Julia and I arrived at the race site about 2o min. after 7 am to make sure we had enough time to drop off our warm up cloths and use the restroom. There were 3000 ppl signed up for the half and about 1200 ppl in the 5k.

The race started promptly at 8 am and the first 3 miles I ran at an easy training pace trying to work my way through the crowd Since this was my first half marathon I didn't quite know how fast I should be going. I brought 4 gel's w/ me to take about every 3 miles and I made sure I hit every water station along the way since I wasn't carrying a water bottle. We ran along the river, across the capital bridge, through west Sacramento, by the golf course, and onto the levy. It was an enjoyable experience up until mile 10 @ 1 hr. 20 min.

At that point I was feeling pretty good and the course was pretty flat, I had maintained a steady pace and was happy I was more than half way finished. Then we hit the levy and it went up and down that pulled and strained some muscles that in effect caused my other muscles to tighten. At mile 11 I could feel my muscles twitching and knew that if I stopped that I would have some major cramping. Some how I pushed through it and tried to focus on just keeping my body moving. I did slow down a bit just to make sure that I wasn't pushing too hard and burn out before I cross the finish line.

Mile 12, I could see the stadium and I was trying to keep up with those in front of me. We ran through the west sac neighborhood up on to another levy and back down under a overpass. Let me tell you the feeling entering Raley's field stadium with 100 yards to go, the crowd in the stands cheering you on was the greatest feeling in the world. They announced my name over the PA as I crossed the finish line and showed everyone on the jumbo tron, it was awesome. They had people handing out water and I received a medal for finishing : ) All in all my first half marathon was a success.

Thanks for your encouragement and prayer, I need a massage!

Thank You Julia for being there, for keeping me warm before the race and being my crutch afterwards.