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Mission Accomplished {30x30}: Run a Half Marathon

Last Saturday was the Seattle Rock and Roll Half Marathon. And I finished it! I have a medal and everything to prove it!

Signing up for this race prompted me to start running. Back in January when I signed up, I figured I’d better practice getting my ass off the couch and moving in a forward direction before I had to do it for 13.1 miles all at a time. So I did. Training went well for awhile and I got up to about 7 miles before my training took an abrupt halt (quitting my job, getting a new job, having to take the bus and walk 1.75 miles to/from work everyday and getting home past 8pm really doesn’t inspire one to then go run 6+ training miles, yada yada).

Anyway - in true Spence family style, we made team shirts (No Spence left behind) and the whole fam came to town in support. Both my sisters (+one boyfriend) even came ready to race alongside me, which was a bonus. They didn’t run their race, they ran mine. Having my sisters there to support me, to document the journey, to teach me about gu, to tell me to take shorter strides, to convince me that i should port-a-potty before we start, to make me laugh, to slap my ass, and ultimately keep me motivated and moving in a forward direction for 13.1 miles was really one of the nicest things anyone’s ever done for me.

The first 5 miles flew by and while I walked a bit more than I wanted, I enjoyed the run. The people, the music, the energy was all awesome. Mile 6 and 7 were like the longest miles of my life and after the first 5 just few by I couldn’t for the life of me figure out why they weren’t doing the same. It occurs to me now that during training, I never made it (consistently) for more than 6.5 miles - most of my runs were around 4-5 miles (since I skipped out of the last 2 months of consistent training/mileage building - okay yeah bad idea - i know). Running along Lake Washington along Seward Park was so beautiful and we even saw two bald eagles, one of which swooped down and caught a fish. We ran through a memorial stretch lined with American flags and photos of soldiers who’d been killed in Iraq/Afghanistan. It was all I could to do maintain my composure and keep moving forward. My iPhone died at mile 9 (wtf?) so the last 4 miles were without my little Nike+ woman telling me how much further I had to go (tragic). Good thing I had my sisters to mileage check and serenade me between mile markers/bands. Running through the I-90 tunnel was pretty awesome and the downhill stretch into Seattle was long but beautiful. I couldn’t have asked for better weather, better sisters or a better way to accomplish such a feat.

3 hours and 20 minutes after we started, praise the Lord, we finished. I will run another. Maybe even another one this year. But next up, a 200 mile Ragnar relay race from Canada to the south tip of Whidbey Island. It’s next month (July 22) and I can’t wait to be stuck in a sweaty van for 2 days with 5 of my closest friends while we and 6 other crazy people relay 200 miles.