Where did we leave off? Oh, yes. In Part I of my half marathon story, which you may have read, Jesse and I were in the 5th mile of our very first half marathon. Along the course, we found motivation in live music and two appearances by my dad who had traveled from Wisconsin to cheer us on. However, I was starting to loose all the excitement and energy I had built up in the first few miles. I was ready to take a walk bread, but Jesse pushed us forward. We kept running, and I was grateful that he was there to motivate and encourage me to do my best.
We saw Dad again during mile 5, and I laughed with surprise and joy! Dad also did a lot that day to lighten my mood and motivate me. Here are some pictures he took at that stop. You can see the light and joy in our eyes to be so far in the race...
The next few miles were fairly uneventful. Mile 6 turned off the main road and onto the bike path. We kept up with our pace group until mile 7 when Jesse needed a bathroom break and we lost them for good. Mile 8...
With mile 9 we were back on the road, except this time we were traveling through neighborhoods. Throughout the race there had been so many spectators out cheering us on, but now there were also a plethora of tables offering fruit, candy, and water to grab as you ran past. One table even advertised freshly mixed mimosas.
At some point during the ninth or tenth miles, we saw dad one last time. He walked up "the hill" with us. I mentioned the mimosa table, and he pretended to go back for a cup, but in the end he was right there with us to the top of the hill.
Halfway through the tenth mile is when the route basically becomes one straight shot to the finish line. This stretch seemed to go on forever, and it was difficult to decide if it was more painful to keep running or to stop and start again. We knew we were going to see our friends Josh and Katie around E street, so we made sure we were running as we neared that area. When they saw us, they were very impressed that we still appeared to be going strong!
The last 0.1 mile was a loop around the Husker stadium. The only thing that kept me motivated during this time was the thought that in a moment I would burst onto the field and hear the spectators cheering me on as I crossed the finish line.
When the finish line was in view, Jesse and I took one look at each other and put our practice into action. During our training runs, we would make it a point to finish strong, to speed up as we neared the end. And we did just that. We weaved our way through the slower runners and surged through the line.
Our goal was to finish in under three hours, and we both crossed the finish line at 2:48:47.
As was my race tradition, I started tearing up as soon as I was done, but I was so out of breath, I ended up just gasping instead of really crying. I walked through the chute in a haze, grabbing my medal and my thermal blanket. I felt Jesse put his arm around me as we walked through the snack area. I grabbed a banana, some chocolate milk, a packet of Sun Chips, and a bottled water, clutching them to myself along with my thermal blanket. As we exited the stadium, we saw Ursula and Adriane again, holding their signs and cheering. They gave us the signs to keep, and I then saw that they said things like "Congrats on your first half!" and "Wir sind stolz auf euch!"
We met up with Dad at our designated spot, and drove off into the sunset. (Ok, there was no sunset. It was only 10:30 and all we wanted was a chair and maybe some food.)
Overall, I loved running the Lincoln Half. The course was great, the spectators were generous and encouraging, and I had the best running partner a girl could have by my side. Before embarking on this adventure, I never thought I could run a mile, let alone 13.1 miles. I am so glad I started running, and that I was able to take a training class, work hard, and hit a finish time I am proud of. I hope to run another half marathon again in the next couple years (and go for a PR)!
Until next time,
Amy
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