This may be a little late but, on October 25 I accomplished my goal of running a Half Marathon. for those of you who don't know, a Half Marathon is a 13.1 mile race. I know, crazy right? Anyways, the one that I had signed up for was called the Knobstone Trail Mini Marathon. It was located in the Morgan-Monroe State Forest, 4 miles south of Martinsville. The race started at 9:00am.
My friend Tyler had volunteered to go with me, and we ventured out of my house at 6:00am. Man, was it cold outside! We had to make a quick stop at Wal-Mart so I could buy a watch, then we could be on our way. At Wal-Mart, I bought a watch and an energy bar. I slowly ate the energy bar and drank strictly water the whole way to the race.
When we got there, there were tons of people! Of course, everyone was wearing their cold gear (layers of clothing to keep you warm before an athletic event), and there were people running everywhere. It was my kind of atmosphere. Personally, I was very nervous for the race. I've never ran that far before, and I wasn't sure if I could do it. Plus, the trails were in the middle of the woods. But, I warmed up just like before every race. I jogged for 10 minutes, and ate my Gu. (Gu is a type of gel you squeeze into your mouth for an extra burst of energy). When they called Half-Marathoners to the line, I began removing my layers of clothing. I took off a sweatshirt, sweatpants and shorts. That left me with my long socks, really short shorts and a long sleeve thermal shirt. I also was wearing gloves and a headband that covers my ears.
When the race started, I felt good. I clicked my watch at the start, and I was off. I immediately went to the front pack of people because they were moving my speed. After awhile of running with them, I realized I could go much faster, but I wasn't sure of the trail. So, I decided to take the lead. I couldn't believe it! I was winning a Half-Marathon! Later down the race, the trail started to disappear, and I couldn't tell where to go. There was a very helpful kid from college behind me though, who told me where to go.
About 5 miles into the race, I fell down. My foot hit a root, and I fell down a slight hill. The pack behind me passed me, but a man stopped to help me back up the hill. I tried to run the race as best as I could but, I started to die off. When I reached mile 10, my body felt finished. But, I pushed on, and finally I completed my goal with a time of 1 hour 46 minutes; and I placed 7th! Overall, I was very proud of myself, and I couldn't walk for the next 3 days. =)
