Lose yourself

"Look, if you had one shot, or one opportunity to seize everything you ever wanted. One moment. Would you capture it or just let it slip?.....So here I go, it's my shot. Feet, fail me not, this may be the only opportunity that I got."

This has to be one of the best running songs of all time. It was one of my motivational songs during the 12 weeks of my half marathon training. At 0730 on October 12, 2014, I got my shot...

There really are no words to describe what it is like to be able to say I accomplished a feat I never in a million years thought I would or could do. Thank you to my husband, Paul and my brother-in-law Eric, for encouraging me to try a half marathon and Paul for his faith in me, especially on the days I had none. I may hurt like crazy right now, but the aches and pains are worth it.  

This half certainly wasn't easy, especially since 11 miles was the furthest distance I ran during my training. During the last two miles of the race, it was quite grueling and I honestly did not know how I would be able to finish. My left knee/IT band was hurting so bad I could barely bend my knee and it honestly felt like I couldn't take another step. God must have known I needed some encouragement because all of the sudden, almost out of nowhere, my big sis, Nadine, who was fighting her own pains as well, ran up next to me and we finished the race together. And someone must have been playing DJ because shortly before we approached the corner to the final stretch, "Lose Yourself" started to play on my iPhone. So with my sister by my side and the reason behind my determination to run this half in my heart, I crossed the finish line. And for the fact I ran the entire way except for about a half a mile of the course, this experience will go down as one of the best days of my life. 

Stats 

My goal was to finish the race with no expectations in regards to time/pace:
Run time: 2:17:20

Pace: 10:30 
273nd of 413 runners overall 
129th of 234 females
21st of 36 females in my age group 

What's Next?

Now that I have completed a half, many people ask if I'm going to try at full marathon. I can honestly say I have no desire to even attempt one.  I know, I know, that's what I said after my first 5K when Eric and Paul said I should try a half. But I can honestly say I really have no desire to do anything longer than a half. That was plenty long enough for me. To be honest, I really don't even think I am going to make half marathons my "thing." That's not to say that I would never do another one. As a matter of fact, I'd like to train differently next year so I can run the Northern Ohio Marathon again and not have the issue I did with my knee/IT band. One thing is for certain: I will definitely keep running. I plan on doing as many 5Ks as my schedule will allow and would also like to do some local 10Ks as well. I am even going to join a running club. I guess you can say that not even do I just keep swimming, I just keep running.