I did it!!!!!

This past Sunday was the Detroit Free Press/Talmer Bank Marathon and I ran the half marathon!!!

When I signed up in January I had no idea what to expect.  In all honesty I thought it was something I would never be able to do but figured I'd try anyways.  I was jealous that Tim ran it last year and I didn't.  And then I heard about Team World Vision and the decision to run was a no brainer.  Team World Vision partners with runners to raise money for children around the world.  The team I joined was specifically raising money for clean water for children in the Congo.  Every $50 raised gives a child clean water for LIFE! Incredible.  When I was 12 I lived in Kenya, Africa and personally saw the hardships of women and children having to carry water (and dirty water at that) for miles and miles.  I felt like partnering with this organization would not only help me meet my fitness goals, but also help me make a difference the lives of children in Africa.

My first few months of training were really rocky.  I started out using the 5K101 podcast program on my iPhone.  My first run was February 24th, 2013 and I did an interval walk/run for 3.2 km.  I could barely run for 1 minute at a time (my average pace was 9:15 min/km).  It then took me several weeks to move through each week of the program.  My training was very inconsistent and painful and I seriously doubted my ability to run anything more than 5km.  Then during a heat wave in the summer I was leaving my runs until after dark when it was cooler.  I was doing a fartlek run and in the transition from the curb to the road in the dark, I landed on it in an odd way.  I tried running on it the next day and it was so painful.  I decided to do cross training instead for a few weeks to let it rehab.  It felt better within two weeks so I went back to training.  Once again my training (and my eating habits) were less than stellar.  My husband convinced me to sign up for a 5K race to get me into gear.  It was a good thing he did.  I was so nervous about it that I trained really hard.  The race was August 25th, 2013 and my time was 32:50 (7:16 min/km average pace).  I was happy with it since it was a couple minutes faster than any training runs I had done and I didn't come in last!! What a long way I had come since the first run in February :)

From that point on I was hooked on running.  I think mostly because I gained a little bit of confidence in my abilities.  I began to be much more consistent (but not perfect) with the training plan provided by World Vision.  I started to increase my kilometers really quickly. And then my ankle started to hurt again.  Ugh.  I managed to get up to 15 km two weeks before the race and was really nervous that on race day I would end up walking that last 6 km that I'd never done before. And then add the ankle injury on top and I was even more nervous!

Race weekend arrived and we drove down to Windsor to stay at my parent's house (almost forgetting our passports...yikes).  Tim decided that he would still run the race with me even though he hadn't trained. So we went over to Detroit to pick up our race packages.  We saw the start line being assembled and then drove the first part of the race course on our way back to Canada to get a feel for it.  It became more of a reality and I was finally starting to get really excited!

There is a sign to the left of the picture above that says "E".  That is the wave that we started in.  If you look at the picture below it is the opposite direction of the picture above and shows how far from the start line we were and the waves went all the way to L or M.  Crazy!!!!  So many people!!

Lining up for our race packages (shirt, bib, gear bag)

Race morning started at 4 AM after not getting any sleep.  We carpooled with some friends and headed over to Detroit.  There was awful traffic downtown and my friend and I missed the team picture at the Team World Vision tent.  After a line up for the port-a-johns we headed to the start line.  Tim and I stuck together and started in E wave.  It was so great having him there with me for my first half marathon.  And the energy at that start line was incredible.  I can't even describe it.  There were so many runners and spectators and volunteers yet it all went off like a well oiled machine.  The race organizers should be proud!

Waiting for the race to start

GO team world vision!!!

 Countdown clock

The race started and Tim ran with me for almost 3 kms then told me to go ahead.  (After the race he told me that he seriously considered turning around and just waiting for me at the finish line.)  You can watch feed from the start line here.  Tim and I pass by at around 40:45. 

Then the Ambassador Bridge was probably a highlight of the whole race.  I was feeling great, I didn't walk at all and the view was stunning!!!!

View of Detroit and Windsor as I was running up the Bridge

Running down the bridge into Canada.  There is a Canada flag there above the runners' heads.  It's blurry because I refused to stop to take pictures ;)

After the bridge I ran down Riverside drive in Windsor.  It was another highlight of my run because Windsor is my hometown and holds so many memories.  I was also so excited to see some of my friends there to cheer me on as well as my Mom and Dad, my kids and my niece!  What a treat.  My mom even had tears in her eyes when she hugged me.  I got a kiss from each of my kids which was so special and gave me energy.....until I reached the tunnel.  It was a neat experience to run an "underwater mile" but it was sooooo hot and humid.  And I HATE being hot!!!  I had also reviewed the course map before the race and knew that coming out of the tunnel was the steepest hill on the course.  I think I had psyched myself out of it before I even came to it.  I managed to run up the tunnel hill without stopping but then I was spent.  The rest of the race was a major struggle for me and I did a lot of run/walking.  Maybe I should have walked sooner and saved my energy.  I went from 6:15 min/km for the first 10 km to doing around 7:00 min/km for the second 10 km.  I still ended with an average pace of 6:33 min/km. The mapmyrun details can be found here.

Running through the tunnel

The Canada and US flags at the underwater border.  Blurry cuz I passed them before I realized I had and there was no way I was turning around and going back.

I managed to finish the race with a time of 2:25:20...not too bad for my first half marathon.  I was happy with the time, but disappointed at the same time.  Looking back over my inconsistent training, I feel that I could have and should have done it much better.  NEXT YEAR I am going to KILL IT!!!!

You can watch me cross the finish line here.  I come into view along the middle yellow line at around 21:25 minutes into the video.  I love the smile on my face after I saw my time :)

After finishing I went to the Team World Vision tent for the race after party.  There was pizza and snacks and HEAT!  I met up with the people we carpooled with, stuck around until a few other friends finished the race and then headed back to Canada for my birthday lunch with family.  It was an awesome experience, especially to be a part of Team World Vision and know that my race was more than just a personal challenge.  I raised $1385 for the kids in Africa and our team as a whole raised over $115,000!!!!  AMAZING!!! Now I definitely have the bug and want to do as many races as possible.  I am being challenged to lead a team as well.  Really scary thought but it is something I feel God is calling me to do.  We will see....

My finisher medal

My memorabilia from the race

Official race results (not sure why it didn't log my 10 mile split)

Finisherpix picture of me crossing the finish line. I'm on the right in pink, behind the guy with the white shirt.

Overall it was an awesome experience for my first half marathon.  I say first half marathon because I know it won't be my last!!! I am looking forward to doing many more and then full marathons as well so that I'm not only "half crazy" but fully crazy!!!!