Well I did it.....I ran 13.1 miles on Saturday!!

This past weekend was the half-marathon that I have been training for since Feb. On Friday I dropped the kids off at mom and dad's house, put them down for naps there, picked Ryan up at a gas station off the freeway and headed to Indianapolis, IN for the festival 500 mini-marathon! We met our friends Heather and Ryan and Jamie at the Old Spaghetti factory for some carb loading! On a side note, I have to ask what the big deal of the Old Spaghetti factory is? Our friends get so excited whenever we go to a city that has it and we always have to eat there and I am just not a big fan. You pay $10 for a plate of spaghetti that is not even really that great. Is it the milk and ice cream that comes with it? I really just don't get it. Heather's friend and husband from her running group sat with us and I have to say that I have not been that annoyed with someone in a long time. I really can't even put my finger on what annoyed me about her, but I wanted to just scream and tell her to stop talking! Afterwards we were all going to the expo center to pick up our bib numbers and when I saw her put her coat on to come with us I just cringed, but God knows how much we can handle and she left her packet in the car and had to go get it first so we were able to make a get away! :)

We walked around the expo center and mall for a while and chatted for a bit. I saw this t-shirt that I really wish I would have bought. It said "18 weeks ago, this seemed like a good idea.". It was perfect for the way I was feeling that night. My stomach was in knots and I kept thinking, "why did I sign up for this?!". Heather and Ryan went back to his sister's house and Jamie, Ryan, and I headed back to the hotel. Nothing too exciting..just vegged out and went to bed. Joe and Mere came down for the race which was just so amazing of them. They didn't get in until after midnight and then left soon after the race. They rock!

So Saturday morning, the alarm goes off at 5:45am...yuck! We had our banana and power bar and lots of water and headed down town. Our chauffer, Ryan, dropped Jamie and I off at the start line and went to park. I wasn't sure what to expect...this is the largest mini-marathon in the country with over 35,000 people participating in the race. We started in corrals which there were 26 of them A-Z. This meant that over 1000 people were in each corral! It was absolutely crazy. I was in corral U and Heather was in V and Jamie in O, so we gave each other a hug and headed to our stations. Just to give an idea of just how many people were in it, the race started and it took me 23 minutes to cross the start line. But it was so great, because Ryan was able to walk along side of me on the sidewalk and keep me company while we all slowly made our way to the start line. Unfortunately Joe and Mere went to the other side of the street and it was impossible for them to cross at that point so I made my way through all the people in my corral to other side so I could say hi to them and they pumped me up some more as we were still walking towards the start line. But then I really wanted to see Ryan one more time while I could so I made my way again over to him. He cheered me on one more time as I finally crossed the start line and so it began! The race was so spread out that unfortunately they weren't able to see me anymore until the finish so I was on my own at that point. It was a really fun because there were 120 bands there! It was so crazy to be running along the street and see a live band with drums, guitars and all on the side of the road performing for us. It was like that through it all...different bands would just be playing as we ran by. There were 2 christian bands along the way so gave them a shout out as I passed. And one band was playing the YMCA song and some of us started doing the dance as we were running. That was fun. We also got to run on the Indianapolis 500 speedway which was fun at first, but it was 2.5 miles around so towards the end I was ready to get off it.

I do a run/walk method of running where I run for 4 or 9 minutes and then walk for 1 minute. My main goal for the race was to finish of course, but to also not walk for more than a minute and a half at a time. I am a pretty slow runner..usually averaging between a 12.5-13 min/mile pace, but the first 2 miles I felt great and did a 9/1 interval and did each mile in 11.5 minutes. After that I slowed a bit, but I averaged just under a 12 minute mile for the first 5 miles which was great for me. The last 3 miles were very rough. I am so thankful that Joe and Mere gave me the advice to not be afraid to stop and stretch, because I don't know if I would have let myself do that otherwise and I don't know if I would have been able to run the last part of the race if I didn't...my muscles were tightening up fast and my toes cramped like crazy. But I still ran for at least 3.5 minutes and only walked for a 1.5 minutes except for the end where I walked a little over 2 minutes so I could run in the last 1/4 mile. Throughout the race there were pit stops with water and/or gatorade and every now and then someone would call out "keep it up Michelle or You're doing great Michelle!" At first I was like 'how do you know my name', but then I remembered our first names were on our bibs. But I had to laugh at myself a bit, because everytime I would hear someone call me by my name I would tear up. :) But what really got me was when I got to the end and saw Ryan, Joe and Meredith cheering me on...I just started crying and then I crossed the finish line. I didn't get the adrenaline rush that I thought I would get when I crossed, but it's probably because I was so spent of any energy, but I was definitely emotional! Joe and Mere also greeted me with a rose at the end...so sweet! :)

We walked around a bit (well I limped around a bit) and then headed back to the hotel to take a much needed shower! I went to Joe and Mere's hotel so Jamie could use our shower when the water hit me I let out a little screech. I didn't realize how chaffed I got until the warm water stung me...ouch! But they are good battle wounds, because it reminds me of what I accomplished. Joe and Mere headed home and the rest of us met at Cracker Barrel for a celebratory lunch and chowed! We were planning on hanging out longer in Indy, but everyone else needed to get back home. Ryan and I wanted to enjoy the break and didn't want to get back to Columbus too early and our house is on the way back so we stopped at home and took a little nap and chilled for a bit. That was soo nice! We then got some dinner and headed back to Columbus. Mom and dad had a fun day with the kids and the kids loved it! When we got back we of course played some catan and the ladies whooped the boys that night which has not happened yet so that was a good end to the day! I went in the hot tub afterwards which felt amazing and hit the hay. Ryan was so sweet and got up with the kids Sunday morning and it ended up being a good thing, because I could barely get out of bed. I didn't realize I would be that sore! Even my back and shoulders were so achy! But I loosened up a bit as the day went on. We played 2 more games of catan during the kids naps and I won yet another game. So not only did I run 13 miles, I ended the weekend as Lordess of catan! :)

It was definitely a great weekend and it feels so good to be done with the training! I still can't believe that when I started this training I couldn't even run 3 minutes straight. I think that is what I have loved more than anything about this experience is watching my body gradually get more in shape and now running 5 miles seems like nothing. I am hoping that I will stay motivated to continue running and start eating a little better so I can get this weight off for the summer! :)

Welp there's my book about the weekend....time to get some lunch made. We are trying a new pediatrician today because Josh has a fever and we want to make sure he doesn't have an ear infection. I'm nervous, because our pediatrician clinic was sooo great in Lexington. We can't get in until 2pm so I am going to have some cranky kids on my hands. fun fun! ok i'm out!