My first Half Marathon..

Well, I did it. WOW, what an exciting day. {WARNING: LONG post following, if your not into running or care about half marathon achievements... by all means, click on :) LOL}

It all started for me at about 450am, where I dragged myself out of bed after a restless nights sleep.

Stumbled down to the kitchen and (banged about a bit... sorry dear sleeping family) got myself some breakfast of bircher muesli, yoghurt and banana.

Only I was quite nervous at this stage and didn't eat very much, or as much as I usually do.

I did have my usual coffee.

My little miss Mikaela heard me and came out to give me a good luck cuddle. Gorgeous child!

 

Down to the en-suite to bang about some more have a shower and get ready.

Why is it, the quieter you are trying to be, the noisier you become?

 

Anyhooo... had my shower and felt quite calm at this stage.

Got dressed and had all my gear together.

 

Sat in the lounge for a bit, surfed the net.

At about 606am, went over to my neighbour's... who is also a FIT gal and running the half.

Her man drove us down to the start.

Thanks Vera and Andrew.

It saved us having to wake our three kidlets at 630am on a Sunday, not nice!

 

We arrive and I am talking non-stop with nerves.

There are people everywhere.

We locate the FIT tent and greet our team members.

I decide I need to go to the loo.

Bad decision.

Line is about 40mtrs long.

Quickly decide I don't have to go after all.

We nudge our way to the starting area.

It's 651am.

I try to get my iphone & Nike+ set up.

Accidentally press start about 2mins before the starter gun.

Oh well.

The atmosphere is amazing, we are all excited, nervous...

The starter goes.

We're off... it's awesome.

So many people, such an amazing energy and I am feeling good.

For the first km you have no idea of your pace... 

I am so excited I am not even breathing properly.

I have to tell myself to RELAX and breathe...

I fall into stride with Edwina and her husband Michael at about 1.5km.

I let them know I intend to stick with them.

Ed & I were very close in all our km time trials during training and I know we'd make good pace together. Or I hope.

We are running strong, I feel really good.

At about 4kms I ask Michael if it is possible to run the whole half feeling this good.

Ah, no... not likely is the reply I get back {surprising hey! :)}

At about 8kms it occurs to me that I may be gatecrashing a romantic adventure for these two.

They assure me that is not the case and they are happy I am running with them.

We pass lots of FIT supporters.

Beth and Sandy in particular have been really encouraging to me... and there were lots of yah-hoooing, waves and smiles.

Crossing Kings Avenue Bridge... about 13kms is when I hit my first wall.

I just tried to focus on putting one foot in front of the other... and I knew instinctively that I would get through the wall to the other side. 

Then I hit another wall at about 16km... coinciding with going up a very small hill onto Commonwealth Avenue bridge. I got past that one too... basically I get past the "walls", which I now see as tiny hills... by recovering on the down hill bit.

The course we ran, larger view is here.

With 5kms to go I remember feeling really strong and thinking to myself I'm not going to hit a wall... wow, I feel so good.

Then it came. The real wall...

At about 18-19 km I started to really struggle... there were no more hills, just flat... but it felt hard to me.

At times really hard.

I kept reminding myself that my family were waiting for me at the finish.

I kept thinking about seeing them.

It helped but I still struggled.

I stopped to take a few steps at about 19.5km

That hurt more way more than running, so I kept running.

By this stage Edwina had taken off and was a few minutes ahead of us.

I will be forever grateful to her husband, Michael... who stayed with me and encouraged me through the last few kilometers.

It was tough, because on one level I felt quite strong... I reminded myself I was in a good space, my breathing was not laboured, I was moving along.

I was moving slowly.

At about 400mtrs to go, before we reached the grounds of Telopea Park School... I stopped to walk a few more steps.

Again, not really an option.

So I continued running.

Turning the bend into the finishing lane... Rowena (aka IronMumma) called out to me.

She was all teary.

Which made me teary.

Crazy that I made her cry... she is amazing, a true athlete and a total inspiration to me.

I had my head down and I was crying.

 

About 10seconds later Michael pointed out that my children where screaming "Mum, Mum" to me.

They were so excited.

None of them wanted to run with me to the finish.

Well... Mikaela did, but she was holding the pram with Ben.

It was raining the entire race.

The were frozen stiff, poor little darlings :(

I crossed the finish line, Edwina was just ahead, waving madly.

I thanked her and Michael for the run.

Hugs all around.

Out the gate and we get our medal, I start crying... that was SO hard I splutter.

Linda, a fellow FIT team members is one of the volunteers to hand out the medals, I fall into her embrace a little too heavily and start to sob for a brief second before trying to get myself together...

As I turn around, Michelle, another FIT gal arrives... agrees that it was really hard.

Really hard.

Nath, Mikaela, Joshua, Benjamin and Rowena arrive to congratulate me.

Hugs all around.

Alicia (gym training buddy) calls.

I go back to the FIT tent, hugs and congratulations all around.

Retrieve my jumper.

Then we make for home.

HOME... cold bath, COLD bath with epsom salts.

Awesome pain.

I really want a coffee... Nath assures me I can not have one and I need to rehydrate.

True.

Update Facebook (of course)...

I attempt to take a nap.

Messages and phone calls start coming in.

Dad sends a beautiful message.

Sisters call. Love them.

Emails from loved ones.

Husband runs about for me... and basically does his best attempt at post run care.

As he looks up at the blackboard and asks "what's next on the agenda"...

The full in July. Maybe the half in May?

Ask me in a about 10 days time.

Thanks to everyone who supported and encouraged me... FIT team, 12WBT Mama's.. friends and family.

Your support, love and enthusiasm helped to get me over the line.

Last night we had a wonderful celebratory dinner with all the FIT gals... about 30 of us grinning from ear to ear and sharing our stories of our run. Perfect end to the day!

This was by far one of the best experiences of my life.... and I can't wait to do it all again.

Hugs

Bxo

Comments

[Julie D.]

Rebecca, you ROCK! Yes, it was hard...but you did it!!! I'm willing to bet you won't have to wait 10 days...you've caught the racing bug, right?! Congrats.

[Renee]

Hi Rebecca.
I have been stalking your blog for a few weeks and I just had to pop in and say well done and congrats on running the half marathon.Such a remarkable achievement!!! You have inspired me to get back into running (which I haven't done for probably 15 years). Who knows you might see me in next years half marathon ;) Thank you so much for the inspiration and sharing your journey.