The Half-Marathon

Over the past couple of years, I decided that I wanted to run a half marathon. For whatever reason, I never got around to it. Sometimes other things conflicted, or I missed the sign up, or I was simply to nervous to do it, but I finally signed up and ran a half this past Sunday with one of my best friends (Anna) and her twin sister (Angela).

Our last training run

Not to sound cheesy, but running this half was quite the journey for me. We signed up in the beginning of January and we had a group of 6 that we were supposed to run with. Due to extraneous circumstances, people ended up not running and that was slightly discouraging. Also, life seemed to get in the way and I could not always get the right training runs in or enough training runs in. My cross-training also totally fell through which meant that I wasn't as physically strong as I had hoped to be, but regardless of all of this, the half was a learning experience. I learned what works well in training and what doesn't. I learned that long runs are not as scary as I thought they would be. I learned that things like a half take a lot of time, energy, and dedication, but most importantly I learned that if I set my mind to something, I truly can do it and it can be enjoyable.

The home stretch with my (not so) impeccable form

While I was running, I was surrounded by both runners and supporters for the entire 13.1 miles. People who didn't even know me were cheering me on which was something I did not expect. Also, my best friend from high school, her mom, and two of my college best friends came out and met us throughout the race to cheer us on. Also, I received texts in the morning to wish me well. These moments are what I am most grateful for. To know that I have people in my life who would take the time out of their day to come support me while I was completing something major that was also making me nervous took my breath away and also helped me finish.

The medal and sticker (not pictured) made it all worth it

I have always wanted to run a half marathon and while my knees are still a little tender, I had such a wonderful experience (except for mile 9, that was pain I cannot explain). Long distance runs are also a bit addicting so I signed up for a five mile run on memorial day and will be doing a full marathon in Chicago on October 11th (follow this link and fund my run for the charity I am running for: http://mercyhomehero.com/i/sarah-kelly#.VUjsK_lViko).  Running is an integral part of who I am and I am glad to have finally made this great accomplishment and to have done so surrounded by loved ones.

The best training partner there ever was.