Half Marathon for Practice

Tuesday night I did something I never thought I would do. Ever. I mean, never, ever, ever. Not in a million, trillion years. Not even if I was forced a gun point. O.K. Maybe then. Running 13.1 miles was just a practice run for me. It's crazy that I even typed that. Seriously, unbelievably crazy. I am in shock this morning. Shock and a little bit of soreness. Let me tell you how it went.

Taken after I finished my run. Don't you love how I match?

I agreed to do a marathon and you can read all about the why here.

Yesterday was the only day I could fit in my running such a distance because I am super busy. This weekend when I should have run, I had eight different photo shoots to do, and being sore could not be a part of my work. Monday and Wednesday night, I Zumba, and I didn't want to give that up. Thursday and Friday I have rehearsal, so Tuesday was the only night to run.

To say I was nervous would be an understatement. I was terrified to embark on this adventure just for a practice run. I wasn't running in a race and there would be no cheering section at the end when I received my metal. I was alone. Just me and the pavement. And the rain. Did I mention it was raining? Yep. All 13.1 miles it was sprinkling, pouring or somewhere in the middle. I was drrrrrrenched when I got home!

I wrapped my watch that I use for my interval training in a plastic bag to protect if from the rain.

Let me back track and start from the beginning. I had to make a decision: Run in the rain or Run at the YMCA. I called the YMCA, which we have a membership to, and asked if they would make an exception to allow me to run longer then the 30 minute limit. They said they would, which was wonderfully sweet of them, but running on a treadmill for three hours did not appeal to me on any level. So, I met Craig at Lake Hollingsworth with the kids fast asleep and began to run.

I really enjoyed my run! There were only a handful of people in the 2+ hours I ran around the lake and that was just fine with me. I sang out loud with my Ipod. I played the air guitar a couple of times and did a couple of Zumba dance moves as I ran. It was a blast and I am sure it was very entertaining to see me for all of the cars that passed by at five o'clock!

I also wrapped my Ipod and Nike+ to make sure everything would stay dry.

I started to ache around mile 9, and the last 100 meters was pretty hard. But I did it! Totally soaked, but with a smile on my face because I accomplished something I never thought possible. What a feeling! No wonder people enjoy long distance running! I am still not so sure about running an entire marathon, but I will get there one practice run at a time.

This is what I wear after my run, to keep my muscles warm as I recover.