It's over!

I ran the Austin Half Marathon this morning. The weather was absolutely perfect for running... 45-50 degrees with very little breeze. We had to get up at 4:45 this morning in order to get downtown and set up to start the race at 7. The longest training run I did was 8 miles in mid-January, so I definitely didn't know what to expect today.

Since the weather was so good, I thought that I might actually try to run the whole thing. I knew if I could make it to 10 miles, then I would be able to do the last 3.1 miles. At that point it is just a mental game. Bryan ran with me for the first 3.5-4 miles (which was way longer than I expected, thanks Bryan!) and we got off to a great start. He took off to run the rest of the race at a faster pace. I turned my iPod on and enjoyed the next few miles. Around 7.5 miles, I started feeling really hungry, so I had some of the "Gu" that Bryan gave me. I proceeded to have a "bite" of the Gu at every water stop for the rest of the race. I walked for probably 10 seconds through each water stop and that gave me the energy that I needed to keep going.

The worst part of the whole race was just before 12 miles. We had just gone up what I thought was the last hill, and as we crested it, I saw this ENORMOUS hill in the distance. It was one of those "Ohhhh, crap, you've got to be kidding me!" moments. I had gone so far, and as I was "trudging" up the hill, I kept thinking to myself... "Mike is going to call me to see how the race went, and I can't tell him that I ran the first 12 miles and walked the last one! I have to keep going!" I barely jogged up the hill and almost cried when I got to the top because it was that hard. Thankfully, there was a water stop coming up and then only 1/2 of a downhill mile to go. I even sprinted the last few blocks. I feel great tonight aside from a nagging pain in my right heel. Hopefully it will go away with a day of rest.

The official results haven't been posted online yet. Of course, I forgot to stop my watch when I crossed the finish line. I believe I finished a few minutes shy of 2 hours, which should be about a 9 minute pace. Edited to say: I finished at 1:58:36, This was faster than I expected, so I am very pleased! My mom and 2 of my aunts walked the 1/2 and did a great job. Bryan and 2 of my cousins ran the 1/2, and another cousin completed his first full marathon. I definitely couldn't imagine running the 1/2 twice in a row. Kudos to Caleb and Julie and everyone else who has accomplished that feat!

I'm trying to upload some recent videos of Elise but vimeo.com is giving me trouble. I'll try again tomorrow!

Happy Valentine's Day to my wonderful husband. Elise and I love you so much! We are so proud to be your family.