Hi friends! It’s been a very busy week. Last Thursday, Tyler and I moved into our apartment (yay!) and we are loving it so far. We moved everything ourselves, so there was a lot of heavy lifting involved but we we’re just so happy to settle down here in Memphis. Then on Sunday I ran my first half-marathon! I am going to provide a little background about why I signed up for the race, but if you’re just interested in the race recap, scroll down 🙂
How I Started Running
Last winter when I was feeling the effects of seasonal depression, I made a goal to run three miles outside once per week to encourage myself to get outside. Three miles felt pretty dang hard for me! I obviously love yoga and I also enjoy strength training, but cardio had never been a strong suit of mine. Even when it was hard and I had to walk to take breaks, I kept up with it.
I kept up with it throughout the summer and some goals started to creep into my mind. I’ve had a half-marathon in the back of my mind for the last few years as I have watched my friends conquer half-marathons and marathons but I always doubted myself. I thought, I should probably just stick to yoga. But I was slowly but surely becoming more comfortable with running and to my own surprise, I found myself enjoying it.
Why Not Me?
Finally I had the thought, why not me? I started listening to running podcasts like Ali on the Run and getting inspired by the crazy athletes I was listening to on these podcasts. I knew I had to give it a shot. So I started training, loosely following this beginner plan, minus the HIIT/tabata workouts and more focus on yoga. Shocking, right? 🙂 I was looking into some half-marathons in the Hershey area but then we found out we were moving! I kept up with running since we’ve moved here and was determined to find a race.
Last week, I decided I’d sign up for the St. Jude half-marathon in December, but the day I went to register it sold out! I was SO bummed. And I began to slightly panic because I knew I wanted to do a race before the end of the year. I researched other half-marathons in the Memphis area and the only other one was THAT upcoming weekend…and we we’re moving on Thursday. I thought, this is crazy, there’s no way I can do it. But Tyler encouraged me to go for it and on Saturday I fully committed and registered.
Since I signed up the day before I wasn’t fully aligned with the training plan, but had recently done a 10-mile run and a lot of 4-5 mile runs so I knew I could do it. In all honestly, I wasn’t most nervous about finishing. I was nervous about doing it by myself because it was a smaller half-marathon organized by the Memphis Runners Track Club. I thought I would be the awkward person on my own and I was pretty anxious.
Race Recap
I went to bed early Saturday night and was up at 5 a.m. — way too early for a Sunday! I got ready and ate peanut butter toast, a banana and a coffee. I made my way to the race and the parking was pretty seamless since the race was relatively small. At about 6:20 a.m., I checked in, got my bib and began to warm up. There were so many other folks who seemed to be there alone so that made my anxious self feel way better! Everyone was very focused and those I spoke to were very friendly.
At 7 a.m. it was race time! I really couldn’t believe I was doing it. The first mile or two were crowded but I never felt like I didn’t have space. There was a group of three women right in front of me keeping up a pace of around 9:20 and I felt comfortable keeping up with them since that was around my goal pace. At the first water station at mile three, I tried to drink and run and spilled a lot of water on myself. I read blog posts of other runners mentioning they’ve done this but I guess I had to learn for myself haha.
Around mile four, the group of women in front of me moved to the side to take a walk break. I had a momentary freak out because in my mind they were helping me keep pace, but I just kept going. I surprised myself by how comfortable it was to stay at that pace on my own. As the race progressed, the route became less crowded as folks stopped to take walking breaks or slowed down.
The race had some gradual inclines and declines, but no crazy hills, which I was grateful for. Around mile eight, my left hip flexor started to bother me. This has happened a few times recently but it’s been uncomfortable rather than painful. When I stopped at the next water stop, I did a few hip circles and kept going. I ate a gel and maybe it’s placebo, but I definitely felt like I got some more energy.
Overall, my cardio felt great. The race would’ve been perfect if my hip flexor hadn’t have acted up. I was proud of myself for pushing through it. I knew it wasn’t an injury or searing pain that was causal for stopping and I was proud of myself for pushing through the discomfort. As the end of the race came nearer, I thought less about the discomfort and more about how proud of myself I was for doing it. The signs reading, “Embrace the suck” and “Pain is temporary. Finishing is forever” were also very motivating!
At the end of the race, I turned my headphones off and just focused on soaking in the experience. I pushed hard through the last mile and could even spot Tyler standing at the finish line 🙂 I finished with a time of 2:12 and was super stoked! I think I could’ve been a little faster if my hip cooperated, but overall it was a great time for a first half-marathon and I’m really proud of myself!
Will I Do It Again?
Yes! I was so inspired to see so many different types of people running the race and crushing it. No matter how fast or slow people went, the fact that they all showed up and did it was so amazing to me. A man who was probably in his seventies finished right around the same time as me. So inspiring. Right now, I’m doing a lot of yoga and giving my body some rest.
For my next race, I plan to sign up WAY more than a day in advance so my runs can mirror a training plan more closely. The whole time I just kept thinking about what a unique experience it was and how crazy it is to accomplish a goal alongside so many others. I highly recommend the experience. If you don’t think you’re a runner, I didn’t either, don’t doubt yourself so much.
Have you run a half-marathon?
Would you like to sign up for one in the future?
-Morgan