The Half-Marathon

Its official: I've been transformed. I've been denying it for several years now, but its time to face the music and fess up.

I have become a distance runner.

{GASP!}

Two weeks ago, this former sprinter competed in her first half-marathon in Leavenworth, Washington. The scenery was gorgeous, the weather perfect, and the company fantastic.

The run was tough.

At mile 3 I was still breathing well enough to cheer on other runners, specifically two moms who were running and pushing their kiddos in BOBs up a two mile incline. At that moment I wished I had Kendry cruising along with me. (This sentiment vanished at the mile 9 incline.)

Around mile 6 I was still smiling and admiring the beautiful fall colors displayed throughout the course, but I was starting to think: "It would be perfect if the run ended right here because I am still feeling great and would love to enjoy the rest of my day in Leavenworth."

By mile 7 I realized that I had erred in my choice of apparel. Although I had trained for several weeks wearing leggings, I opted to swap them out for spandex shorts on race day. Why? I do not know. But my inner thighs paid the price.

At mile 8 I finally spotted my wonderful hubby and kiddo, who had found a playground along the course and were waiting for me to pass by them. Here is evidence that I was still smiling at mile 8:

I don't remember much of miles 9-13.1, except that I kept telling myself "You can do this!" over and over again. And it worked. I ran the entire 13.1 miles. I did partake of the water stands along the way, but always made myself keep running. This wasn't a pride thing - I just knew that if I started walking I may never get myself running again.

One hour, fifty-two minutes and thirty seconds after the starting gun went off I was crossing the finish line...along with this strange guy wearing only a speedo, tennis shoes and a gladiator mask.

And you wonder why I gasped earlier about being classified as a distance runner?

DONE AT LAST!!

I finished 18th of 216 women in my age group (30-34), and 80th in a total of 908 female participants.

A finisher medal and hugs from my little man helped me recover quickly.

In all actuality the smile on my face reads: "Thank you, Lord, that my inner thighs are no longer being rubbed raw."

So maybe I'm not a true distance runner yet since I only learned after the race about Band-Aid's friction block stick that prevents this sort of running mishap. This knowledge will come in handy on my next half-marathon, if there is one.