It's official - 13.1 miles

For the past number of weeks, I've been very anxious about today's race - getting running time anywhere I could fit it in. I did a practice 2 weeks ago and with the mileage not quite perfect I managed about 13.1 in 2hrs and 42mins.

So this morning came really early at 4am. I live 1 hour west of Virginia Beach were the 38th annual Shamrock was being held. We were told to arrive early to get parking. The 1/2 marathon started at 7am and was completely sold out at 7500 runners.

My goal in all this was not only to finish, but finish without walking at all. This is the farthest I've ran in a race so far. I was so excited last night that, of course, I couldn't sleep. I finally fell asleep at 11pm just to wake at 4am - 5 hours. UGH!

Anyway here's me at the start line. There were so many runners we were "corralled" by our estimated finish time. As you can see, it's still slightly dark out.



My DH was there with me and decided to get some pictures of the sun rising:




Here's me right after crossing the finish with a time of 2hrs 29min and 44 sec and receiving my medal. (not my best pictures so don't laugh) It was so crowded DH couldn't get pictures right at the start and the finish. But I'll take what I can get lol.



I finally caught up with DH and once again he told me how proud he was. I couldn't help but to tear up and cry. And to see the tears in his eyes .... It finally hit home what I actually accomplished - me - a non runner. Someone who used to hate running! Now my passion! DH is even beginning to run - yeah!

And here's the final picture. Most important - my medal! And, I bought 2 stickers at the Fitness Expo just in case I made the run. They will be put on my truck tomorrow!



Thank you to all my team mates and friends for your support and encouragement. I thought about you many times during my run today! YOU GUYS ROCK!!!




Jenn