I Did It!!!

Yesterday morning me, Chris and CBH made our way up to Windsor, CA (about 2 hours north of us here in Oakland). I'd been training long and hard and was finally ready to tackle my FIRST half marathon! CBH, a running machine, was running with me for moral support and to be an energizing force. The man has already run 3 half marathons and clocked in around 1:43 for his best time (at the age of 59 no less!) Mr. Christopher, the dutiful and amazing boyfriend that he is, woke up at 5:30 in the morning to be there with us, cheer us on, and take pictures :)

CBH means business :)

We got our bibs, stretched, did a little warming up and were ready

And by ready, I mean I was totally terrified. We did the Road to Hana Relay last year, and I'd been training for this for a few months, but I was so nervous.

But soon, we were off!

Can you see me with the white hat and CBH with the white hair? We match :)

Now, I'd been running a good amount and CBH and I had figured that finishing in 1:55:00 was a good goal. That would give us just under 13 nine minute miles, and I'd been running about that for my training. We knew that we might be a little faster because of the adrenaline, but we thought that was realistic and that's what I was shooting for.

Well, fast forward to race day and we SHOT out the first two miles and kept up a really fast pace the whole time. A pace I thought might make me fall over and pass out. Around mile 8 I got a blister. Around mile 9 I thought I might keel over. Around mile 10 my post-surgical knee started hurting. And around mile 12 I thought I was going to fall over and quite possibly die.

CBH was SUCH a great motivator and wouldn't let me stop or slow down. Many times I told him, "No, I can't do it, go ahead, you can go faster, go ahead, I can't do it, go ahead." But he stayed with me the whole time and pushed me. It was BY FAR the hardest physical thing I've ever done, and I played 12 years of soccer, countless tournaments, and 6 years of baseball. But man, that half marathon kicked my ass.

When I saw Chris around the last curve taking our picture and shouting "ONE MINUTE LEFT!" I thought I might cry tears of joy

BTW, do you like how in sync CBH and I are? Both right legs kicking up, both left arms pumping forward, and our matching white heads and outfits. Hilarious.

With 1 minute left I summoned everything I had left (which wasn't much) and CBH and I ran through the finish line at 1:48:06!!!! We beat our goal time by 7 minutes!!!! I was floored and so proud of myself. It took a little bit to recover, but man, it felt good! CBH finished 3rd in his age group! And update, I just checked online, I finished 8th out of 51 for ladies in my age group!

Yay!!!!!!

We met up with my mom back in Fairfax for a post-race breakfast and found out SHE MADE THE FRONT PAGE OF THE MARIN INDEPENDENT JOURNAL! Creative Balance, that's my mom!

And she had a big article, above the fold :), on the front page of the weekend section


Amazingness! You can, and should, read the article here! :)

After a great breakfast Chris and I headed home. Chris spent the afternoon working on miscellaneous tasks

Look at that handsome fella :)

And I laid in the grass reading magazines :)

I'm trying to get rid of my "home renovation tan" (I am not a farmer). A tanline on my arm like that will look not so great at my bro's wedding in two weeks.

It was the perfect end to a great day!