I did it!

June 19, 2006

Well, I did my half-marathon!

I came in at 2 hours, 43 minutes and 15 seconds. It was a really hot day and the sun took it’s toll. It was already 25 degrees at 9:00 am. My first 10 km went really well. I was running at my race pace (7 min/km) and was feeling pretty good. I took my first gel around the 1 hour mark and that’s when things started not going so well (a gel is basically sports nutritional supplement made of super concentrated complex carbohydrates. It maintains your energy levels while on a long run). Although it was a gel I had taken before, for some reason it made me sick to my stomach. I had to walk a while every time I took some more gel. It was tough because I was worried I wouldn’t have enough energy if I didn’t take it, but would feel pukey if I did take it! Around 15 km, I thought things started to look up again... But then the dreaded 18 km mark hit! I’ve been told several times that the 18 km mark is when it becomes more mental than physical. It’s so true! Those last 3 km where the hardest. You keep thinking; it’s only 3 km, I can do this, but part of your mind is screaming; What the hell are you doing? Lie Down! Give up! Curl up in a fetal position and just stay there. Someone will find you eventually.

But I pushed through and did it!

Now I have 6 weeks to keep my running consistent until I start training for the full marathon. Let’s just say that for the first hour after I finished yesterday, I was seriously considering switching our marathon to a colder destination! Iceland was sounding pretty inviting!

We also did a fundraiser on Saturday and Sunday. Saturday we had a barbecue at Sobeys and it was awesome! My friend Brenda came out to help and did a great job. Our Sunday fundraiser selling balloons and flowers was a little less successful. We where a little disappointed at first, but then we just told ourselves it’s a learning experience, right? Next time we’ll know better. We had fun and we tried so that's what's important.