My First Half Marathon!

Today I got up at 5:30am. Why!? You ask? Because today was my very first half marathon! I met up with Trisha at the Stony Point starbucks in Santa Rosa and we went and picked up her sister-in-law Jaime. Then we went and picked up Irene and wala, our jogging team was complete and ready to compete!

(Left to right: Jaime, Ross, Irene, Trisha)

We've been training most saturdays by jogging through Annadel State Park. Our goal is to prepare for a full marathon. In the meantime, we're running other events and working our way to that crazy 26.2 miles. Today's event is the Windsor Green Half Marathon. I was very excited and even a bit nervous, as I've never done anything like this in my life. It's thanks to Trisha, for helping me discover what a passion I have for jogging. Thanks Trisha!!!

We got together as close to the starting line as we could and as we heard the announcer calling out the countdown you could feel the excitement in the crowd. As it reached 15 seconds I started "Shiela" (my Runkeeper Application on my iPhone) so I could track my progress and listen to some music. The first mile I just tried to avoid the crowd. Then the second through fourth miles I focused on passing the people in my way. By the time the fifth mile came around I was averaging 8 minute 15 second miles and I knew I needed to slow up if I was going to pull off the whole 13.1 mile track. By the time the sixth mile came up I'd had my first energy pack and was settled into my pace. It felt great! I really enjoyed the run through the back country roads around the small city of Windsor. It wasn't until the last mile, running headstrong into the sun, with Shiela on the glitch that I struggled. That last mile was really rough! But I made it with these final numbers:

Total Distance: 13.1 Miles
Total Time: 1 Hour 56 Minutes
Average pace: 8 minute 50 Second miles
Finish List

It was a GREAT first half marathon and I'm looking forward to more!