Half Marathon report ...

Hurray, I did it!  I finished my first Half Marathon today!!!  I had to get up really early to drive out of town to get to the race.  My stomach was in knots which meant I couldn't eat hardly anything.  And I'm the type of person who needs to eat before I run!  Anyway, the race started off great ... although it was advertised as a "rolling hills" course ... sooooo not!!!!  I mean, the entire course was rolling hills but between miles 4 and 8 there were some monster hills!  And somewhere around mile 4 my toes started getting that feeling like blisters were forming.  I tried to ignore it and managed to climb the hills, loving the downhill portions!  But around mile 7 my leg twisted funny as I stepped down and it pulled my groin muscle.  Ouch, it burned so bad!!!  At that point I was nearly in tears because I didn't want to quit and start walking.  But it hurt bad!  So I tried to walk but that really didn't help so I managed to kick it back into a slow running pace.  I tried running as much as I could and then take a very short walk break.  This maneuver got me through mile 12 ... I thought I was going to die!  But at the mile 12 marker I felt an enormous pain in my blistered toes.  I knew that one of them had popped but what was I to do at that point?  I had 1 mile to go and I told myself I was going to run that last mile and get across that finish line!!!  And I did ... I crossed the finish line with a time of 2:42 ... I really wanted to finish in 2:30 or less but I figured that running with a pulled groin muscle and bad toe blisters made my finish time okay!   Anyway, I took a look at my feet after that and 6 of my toes are just enormous blisters.  And that one blister did pop and tore all the skin off with it so I have really beautiful toes right about now!  Haha!  And now I'm hobbling around from a pulled groin muscle but that is not about to wipe the grin off my face because I FINISHED!!!!  It's amazing how I struggled through nearly half of the race but yet I would sign up to do it again in a heartbeat!!!  I posted a couple pictures on my profile ... --Deanna  :)

Deanna,

Great job on your Half Mary finish. Not only did you finally complete a half Marathon, but more importantly, you learned more about yourself. You learned that your stronger inside and mentally. The way you overcame the injuries and completed it strong tells alot about you.

As Tony the Tiger says, "YYOUURREEEE GREAAATTTTTT"....

Cant wait to hear when your next Half Marathon will be or maybe even a Marathon.

Curt

"As Tony the Tiger says, "YYOUURREEEE GREAAATTTTTT"...." you SO live in cereal city michigan.   geesh j/k 

Why yes I do.. Had you come down to the race you could have had the same picture taken... haha

Hi Deanna,    Wow...great job!!!  It was almost like the 13.1 miles wasn't even a factor - it was overcoming the other issues that "popped" up.  That takes a lot to keep going when things are hurting and the hills are bigger than expected!  You're an inspiration! Becky

How awesome - congratulations!!  Thank you so much for posting!!  I am training to run my first 5k in July (I just filled out the application and put it in the mail - YIKES!!) and I find reading everyone's race reports so inspiring!!!

Way to go Deanna!!!  I knew that once you crossed the start the finish would not be an issue.  Congrats on finishing and don't worry about the time.  You have the rest of your life to improve it - or not - who cares. I am sorry about the blister pain but the messed up toes are a badge of honor so love it.  Get yourself some Injini socks and most likely, your blister issues will be solved.   Also, I am a professional groin massuer so I can help you there if you need. Anyway, congrats!!!

Oooohh, Scott!  Don't tempt me!!!

yayyyyyyyyyyyyy!!!   I'm so excited for you!! now go soak your piggies at a pool today & relax!! *going to check your pics now!!*  

Awsome!!!  Thanks for the great report Deanna.  Congrats on finishing the marathon too.