2:45!!!

Well, folks--I did it. I ended up completing the half-marathon in 2 hours and 45 minutes! Wow. I hurt all over my hips, thighs, knees, and feet. Everything below the waist basically hurts and aches! It was fun though! I had a great time and I probably will do this one again but for now, it's on to smaller distances to kind of recover. I'm going to do a 10k in a couple of weeks with my friend Maren. So, when I finished the run today, I got a medal for completion--everybody gets one. Sadly, at the beginning of the morning, both Kyle and I thought for sure that the 13.1 miles would take me no less than 3 hours so Kyle went back home after I took off with all the runners and he tried to get some sleep. Well, he ended up missing me coming into the finish line :(. Oh well, we had no way of knowing. I didn't want to bring my cell phone with me because I had no pockets and plus the phone would've kept slapping me against the leg. Anyway, I started off strong with everybody but I had to take myself down to a steady and slower pace so that I wouldn't wear myself out right away. I was able to stay running for about the first 5 miles with small stops on and off again because of stomach cramping but I kept going and finally in the last half of the run, I had to stop more and walk because of my feet hurting and my hips feeling like they were going to fall off! On the last leg of the run, I saw a fox! He just came right out of the tree and river area and stopped to look at all of us and then he proceeded across the running path to the fence on the other side of the road which happened to be the fence to the city zoo. For a minute, I thought he was going to start running with us. hahaha. So at the last mile and a half or so, I kept walking/hobbling and jogging. In the last mile, I picked up the pace more because I knew I was getting closer and finally I was within view of the finishing area. Lines of people were there to clap and yell at us to keep us going. I kept running all the way to the finish line and got my completion medal and gratefully grabbed a water bottle from a volunteer. This has been the best experience I've had in exercising. Kyle felt a little jealous that he couldn't run it with me but maybe next year! He said he was very proud of me and was shocked at my running time. He said he probably wouldn't have made it that fast.

I feel good but boy, did I mention that I'm sore as all get out? I also have a major headache. If it's this bad today, am I going to be able to even get out of bed tomorrow morning? We'll see. I may have to just stay in bed all day tomorrow instead of going in to a school for work. I'll try though. I just may have to be pushed in a wheelchair. :)

Here are some pictures from the start and the last picture is after I had finished and when Kyle finally showed up: