Watching the weather we knew it might be cold (35 degrees!) but prayed that it wouldn't rain. Apparently my prayers only hit the ceiling (this explains a lot of unanswered prayers in the past years :) ). We started running and it was cool, but okay. Mile 2 it started raining, then it started pouring, then it started SNOWING! At about mile 4 I had to stop and literally wring out the bottom of my pants because the weight of the water was making them fall down. I then tied them in a knot so that they would not be dragging on the ground under my feet! So yes I was looking extremely cute!
I had been nursing a recent back injury and by mile 7 my body had completely cramped up and I was running slower and slower. I could tell Stacy was still doing okay so I convinced her to leave me and run ahead. I didn't want to be the dead weight holding her back on her first half marathon. With my aching back, knee and quads I knew I was going to end up walking ALOT.
Luckily I had grabbed a trash bag at the last second and I put it on so my core stayed pretty dry, however it did not cover my extremities that were dripping wet and frozen. My shoes were also nice and sloshy!
Needless to say the 2nd half of the marathon was not fun. I would run a half a mile and then walk for some, run and walk. It took me almost 30 minutes longer than the first half and I literally at times started crying and talking to myself (and God) about why it just couldn't stop raining/snowing. When I was running my last mile and saw my sisters and Scott waiting to run the last little bit with me I lost it and started sobbing. My iPod magically flipped to "we are the champions" and I made it. Yes, who would have thought on my 3rd half marathon I would be crying. Luckily with all the rain it was hard to see my tears. I crossed the finish line at 2:33 which is 25 min slower than my best time (2:09). Here are some pictures of the event.
The home stretch.....I had stopped sobbing at this point and yes I'm still wearing the trash bag!
This looks sums up how I felt......
The very cold runners post race......
4 comments:
I'm amazed you finished it. I think I would have quit. Way to go Jen. You are a champion.
Way to go!
Wow. And I hate running in an air-conditioned gym with my ipod and a show in front of me! You're amazing!
Jen, your post almost had me in tears! I am so impressed at you. And, I think it's so cool that you could run with your sisters. That stinks that it was such a tough run - but you are seriously so tough to have done it!
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