Michelle's Half Marathon

I did it!

I ran a half marathon!

Was it hard? YES. Was it worth it? Perhaps. Would I do it again? NO.

Early Morning
After about 4.5 hours of semi-sleep, my friend April and I got up at 3:30am this morning to drive to our race in Indiana. This is the chica that got me into this mess in the first place! April, I'm posting this picture because I think you look good, and I look bad, so ha!

April and Michelle at 3:45am

Before the Race
We got there early and felt good. The race started at the College Football Hall of Fame (Derrick later asked me if I enjoyed looking around at the Hall of Fame... my reply, "Honey, we're girls- we didn't even care to go inside"). We stretched and met up with our friends Mindy and Garrett who were also running this crazy race.

Michelle the Runner?!
Michelle and April just before the race!

During the Race
Sorry no pictures DURING the race (although I think this is a good thing because I'm certain I wasn't looking my best). We checked our cameras at the beginning and got them back at the end.

My stats from the race website

The chip time was my actual time; it was a computer chip that I taped to my shoe to record when I crossed the start and finish lines. Can you believe that the winner finished the race in an hour and 23 minutes?! That's a consistent 6:20 minute mile for 13 straight miles!

If you care how the race went for me, here are some details...

1) The 4 hills killed me; I ran up the first one, and then walked up the rest (but they were short). I always ran for the downhills.

2) I had side-aches starting around mile 2, lasting until the end of the race! That hurt! Every other part of me felt fine... my legs/knees/feet/head were all good. But the side-aches caused me to stop for several 1-minute walking breaks (and one 7-minute break, hee hee). Each time I drank water, my side-aches immediately got worse, but I had to drink anyway.

3) I listened to Derrick's mp3 player the whole way. I loved hearing my songs by Backstreet Boys, Michael Jackson, Whitney Houston, Sons of Provo, and Madonna. Rock on!

4) No potty breaks!

5) Older people, heavier people, and younger people were all passing me.

6) I walked more than I thought I'd need to (15-20 min), but I ran faster than my treadmill pace, so my end time was an average 11:15 minute mile at a 5.3 mph pace- not bad!

7) I thought I would get a burst of energy for the last mile and crossing the finish line, but I did not; it hurt just as bad as the rest of the race.

8) My favorite part was crossing the finish line (duh). It was so neat running into the Notre Dame stadium with the crowd cheering. I felt like an athlete! I also loved all of the wonderful people along the course who stuck their sprinklers in the street; I made sure to get drizzled at each one. And I have to mention something that made me chuckle every time... the supporters along the course who held out globs in their hands and yelled, "Vaseline for chafing!" I never saw anyone use it (I'm guessing chafing was a bigger issue for the full marathon runners), but I always laughed at the thought of someone shoving their hand down there with a huge glob of vaseline.


After the Race
My two girl friends had personal goals to finish under 2.5 hours, which I thought was insane! My personal goal was just to finish. But in the end, we all made it in under 2.5 hours, and we were all proud of our results.

Michelle, April, and Mindy
in the Notre Dame Stadium after the race
We think we're so amazing for this accomplishment!
Biting our gold medals like the Olympic athletes do
Mindy and Garrett

I threw up on the car ride home- clearly my body did not like what I did to it! Sorry April!


Tonight, I'm feeling great! Except for being tired and sore.

I'm proud of myself, and AMAZED at my time (even though I finished near the end of the rankings). This was a wonderful accomplishment and experience. However, I don't feel the need to run any more 1/2 marathons. I'm not a natural runner, so it's too much work for me. I'll stick to 2-3 miles at a time, thank you.