In early May when I signed up, I thought I'd have plenty of time to train. September felt so far away. I started strong doing three and four mile training runs, but as the weather got hotter, I got lazier. I quit running and switched to biking. This went on for the majority of the summer. Mid August came and I realized I had to run 13.1 miles in a month! My good friend began doing short runs with me, but again, no long runs for me. My longest run was 4.5 miles That's quite a difference from 13.1. The week of the race approached and I was in Florida. Now I was getting in a lot of walking at Disney World, but that is again different from running. When I got home, I began to fuel my body and hydrate. Saturday night approached and my nerves were getting to me. I could hardly sleep, I was up most of the night worrying about how I was going to complete 13.1 miles when I could hardly run 4.5. All of the what ifs were going through my head.
Finally Sunday morning came and I was up bright and early. The race didn't start till 7, but I was up at 4:45. When I got to the starting line, my mind was slightly eased. I saw people of all different sizes and ages. Initially I said that I would run with the three hour pacer. That was going to be my goal to finish in under three hours.
The shot gun start went off and I began slowly running with the pacer. Before I even got to mile one, I had left the pacer because he was going to slow. I felt great. I was breathing well, the air was cool. I had no doubt in my mind that I could do this. Mile three approached and I was still feeling good, but of course already counting down the miles. Mile after mile I kept going, kept running one foot in front of the other. Finally, after some discouragement seeing people on their way back, I reached the half way point. I had a mini celebration and even got teary eyed, it was all downhill from there. I was half way through my first half marathon.
From this point on I knew if I could make it half way I could keep going. This was already longer than I'd ran before. Around mile 10, my legs began to get tired, but I kept talking positively to myself. I was not going to be a quitter. I had ran the whole thing at mile 10 and wasn't going to start walking now. I also knew that if I walked, I wouldn't be able to start running again because of the sheer weight of my legs. I kept going and if a song came on I liked I pictured myself dancing and waved my arms a little bit.
Finally, around mile 11, the Omaha skyline came into my view. I had never in my life been more excited to see that skyline. It meant I was almost back to downtown Omaha, and back to TD Ameritrade Park stadium. I kept up my stamina and I made it all the way to the stadium. Coming in I was slightly fooled. I thought, oh I am done as soon as I enter that stadium...WRONG! I had to run all the way around the field. This gave me a whole new appreciation for baseball players. Those fields are huge. It was the longest finish ever, but as I came around the turn I sprinted the best I could through the finish arch. I had done it! I had ran an entire half marathon in 2 hours and 39 minutes. Maybe that is slow, but to me it is an accomplishment. It is better than 90% of people who will never run or finish one. I was actually proud of myself. I got my medal around my neck and I had a giant smile on my face.
Now, what did I learn from all of this? That I am slightly bad ass. Who else can only train 4.5 miles and then go run 13.1. I don't know many people who can. I also learned that a lot of life really if mind over matter. If you think you can do something, then you will be able to do it.
Running my first half marathon also reminds me of Hebrews 12:1 Let us run with endurance the race set out before us. This life we live is not a sprint. It's a marathon. It's going to take awhile. Sometimes we need to slow down. We need to trust that God has us in His hands. Nothing that he sets before us is going to be too great. Keep going, keep putting one foot in front of the other in this journey called life.
