My first half marathon

Well I did it. Today I ran AND completed my first half marathon. I woke up this morning and it was a DOWNPOUR outside. We get to the park and it was no different. My race bib was #9995 and brown. Back of the line for Hannah, as I was in the last corral. Fine with me since I was new at this, had no idea when I signed up what my mile time was and it was my first race. So I jogged up to the herd of ladies and took my spot. Each corral had 1000 ladies in it, so one by one we scooched up. We finally made it and when my foot hit that starting line such adrenaline went through me. The area I was in there were a lot of walkers so I had to be stealth and wiggle my way through them all. I had my iPod with a good playlist, a hat so no rain could get in my eyes and finally a Nike sportband so I could keep track of my running. We finally hit the start at 11:30 or so minutes into the race, so I knew I would have to subtract that from each time I saw.

Besides the rain the race wasn't actually that bad. There were some hills that were tough but not horrible. I did not master the drink stations. Up the nose went some water, that was plesant. I tried to squeeze the cup to create a funnel and almost choked. Will have to work on that later. The race looped around Central Park twice and about mile 4 or 5 a bunch of bikes and a loudspeaker went by "move over to the left, lead runner coming through" Yup, she was lapping us already. When she came up behind me we all started cheering, then I got all teary eyed. No idea why, it just seemed appropriate for my first race.

The rest of it went fairly the same. I ran, it was cold and rainy. I didn't want to stop running because I knew I would never start back up again. I ate my jelly beans and took my gel, had some Gatorade and I was feeling pretty good. Mile seven was exciting because I knew I was over halfway done. Mile 10 I was getting ready to walk when the song "I am free to run" came on my iPod. Ha ha God, thanks for that one! So I ran. Mile 11 I started tearing up, then had trouble breathing. Two more miles Hannah! Not there yet! Mile 12 I picked up the pace and at 12.6 some guy goes half a mile! Excuse me? So I booked it....and when I saw the finish line and the stantions and all the people I started tearing up again. I made sure I was the only one crossing the finish line at my time and as I was approaching the lady on the mic said "Way to go Hannah Herbig you're almost there!" Yah I lost it and sprinted to that glorious finish line.

Not sure my exact time, but I think it was around 2 hours and 35 minutes. Honestly it felt good to just finish, but to finish 10 minutes faster than I had dreamed? Yesssssss. I can't wait to see the pictures and know my official time so I can start getting ready for the next one! I ran about a 11:50 minute mile, so I definatly think I can knock time off of that!

So that's that, my first one. I got my medal and I'm a happy kid. What's next? :)