49. Run a Half Marathon

On Saturday, I completed #49 on my 101 list....running a half marathon. Kim and John, Andrew's parents, came in from St. Louis and we all ran the Oklahoma Aquarium Half-Marathon. My strategy going into the race was to run to the six mile marker and then walk and run the rest of the way. I figured that I needed to at least start the race running and end the race running and running at least half of the half marathon would be cool. 

Well, my strategy changed during the race and I ended up running the ENTIRE 13.1 miles. I started the race good and my breathing was perfect, so I just worked through the little pain that I had in my legs and kept running. I ran the Oklahoma Aquarium Half Marathon in 2 hours and 50 minutes, which makes my pace to be about 13 minutes/mile. I couldn't believe it on Saturday! I still can't believe it. I ran an entire half marathon. Wow. The most I had run before the half marathon was four miles. 

I'm not sure how I did it. I think part of the reason why I just kept running was because I was afraid of what would happen to my muscles if I stopped running and started to walk instead. Anyway, I did it and I have to say that I'm pretty proud of myself. I never in my wildest dreams did I think I would/could run a half-marathon one year ago. Kim and John also had a great race. Kim had a personal best time of 2:52 and John came in at 2:27. Way to go, Kim and John. Thanks for running with me. 

-N

P.S. This picture was taken right after the race. Unfortunately, they ran out of medals, so we had to take a picture with the poster instead. We have our fingers crossed that we will receive our medals in the next could of weeks. Let's hope!