Sandestin 1/2 marathon

After over a month of waiting for my first 'real' race, it finally happened!

Dad and I drove over on Friday, got some food, last second shopping for things Meg forgot, and off to bed to wake up at the glorious time of 6:30 (but really-my friend Brooke got  up at 4:30 to run her full-so no complaints!)

you can tell it's the beginning-i am smiley ;)

Off I go at the start line to embark on 13.1 miles (it ended up being 13.25), and what a glorious day for a run it was! Most miles weren't that bad; the toughest mile for me was 11. It was literally the longest mile I have ever ran. 10 and 11 actually. I thought I had ran way more when my watch told me I had ran .50-most depressing thing EVER. I questioned why the heck I do this-because I was getting a little tired, and still had, but then I quickly changed my mindset to I had already ran, and I only had a little more! Around mile 9 I also realllllly needed to stop and potty-but I deemed myself to wait; luckily my body listened to my mind for the time being. Praise.

mile 4 or so selfie!!  

I finished in 2 hours 5 minutes and 46 seconds; much faster than I fathomed-a 9:35 pace. Whoa. After a thrilling finish, and stopping, my asthma kicked in, but luckily my dad had my inhaler so I didn't completely stop breathing-only partially; keeping the racing life on toes for the record.

13.25 miles later.  praise.

I got some delicious breakfast thing, and waited around for awards, and fun story is that I got first in my age division! SCORE! 20-24 year old females.

As much as I wish I could train for a full marathon-my body has officially told me no in two tangible ways. 1-asthma. I struggle breathing now with long runs, no matter how much I try to control it-I simply can't help the fact my lungs freak out randomly. I prefer living right now. 2-knees. Thank you runner's knee for screwing with me. Around mile 5 or so they started to bother me, and around mile 8 I was ready to be done. Ain't no way this chic would survive a full at this moment of life. We shall see what the future holds. But for now-1/2 are fun, challenging, and training for them still enables me to eat what I want quite often-I consider it a win.

beautiful view around mile 5 or 6.

SO! After a shower, dad and I went shopping so I could get some jeans that fit, and an informal dress for next weekend. It's oh so wonderful wearing a solid size 8, vs. squeezing into a size 16-which was me in May. Speaking of, dad and I went to this great place to share an AWESOME burger and philly cheese steak, and sweet potato fries. Then we headed home. I took a nap, and then talked dad's ear off, and then went to Logans, where we EACH got one of those brownie and ice cream things that should be shared with 4 people; I demolished mine. The waiter sufficiently judged-seriously. Little does he know I ran a 1/2 marathon-JUDGE AWAY DUDE! So-all in all it was a perfect first 1/2 experience-and I can't wait til the next one come January 11th-the MS blues in Jackson!