"Are these hills for real?"

Yep, this face just about describes how I felt the entire time leading up to the half marathon. But I did it! And I did it all by myself! No running partner, no training program...just me, my iPod (yeah, I used one and I don't care if you judge me) and 4 million steep, steep hills. 

The 13.35 mile course (but who's counting?) was traffic-ridden and hilly but man did offer some awesome views of the ocean, beaches and homes of the cute beach town. One thing is for sure, I am 100% positive that if I had KNOWN what I was getting myself into, I never would have signed up for this thing. Lucky for me, this was the inaugural Twin Lights Half Marathon on the North Shore so I had no resources to turn to when it came to trying to psych myself out. 

Before the race started. Amping up my confidence with some nice poses on the beach.

My goal was to finish in under 1:55, which is a little slower than the pace I'd been running my 10 milers in. HOWEVER, I live on the water in Boston, which doesn't offer the rolling hills of the suburbs. I could've used them in training and it was one of my biggest worries going into Sunday. Regardless, I came in at 1:59:18 and I can honestly say that I am SHOCKED I finished at all. Tacking on 3 miles to my "long runs" was a shock to the body and the hills alone were enough to make my IT bands wants to jump out of my legs. Surprisingly, I never felt strained cardiovascularly, which was awesome. I was never that out of breath, but my legs just didn't seem ready for the hills:)

THE BREAKDOWN:

After a short delay, I was actually relatively calm at the start and excited for a good run. That's how I decided I would approach it...just a normal long run.

At mile 1, I got a massive stomach cramp on my left side and almost had an anxiety attack. This lasted for 9 minutes or so and thankfully went away.

At mile 2, I was STUNNED it had only been a mile. Running straight is way worse that weaving through neighborhoods.

 At mile 3, I made the decision that never in a million years would I be able to run a Marathon. 

At mile 4, I decided I was bored and that I'd been running for too long already. But then "It's my Time" (Download it--by Jeremih/Fabolous) came on my iPod so I felt like I was in a movie.

At mile 5, I thought, "oh, this would be my halfway point on my 10 mile runs. Too bad it's not now!"

At mile 6.2 came the hill from Hell and I thought to myself, "Come on, Are you for real?" 

At mile 7, I no longer cared about time but instead, COMPLETION and COMFORT. I just wanted to stay comfortable and finish without walking.

At mile 8, I became delirious and said to myself, "This is a walk in the park! I'm practically finished!"

At mile 9, I stopped and stretched twice and had convinced myself that I would finish in 2:30. Then I thought, Jordan's going to think something bad happened to me...I should probably just finish faster than that:)

At mile 10, I felt like I MUST be done by now!? 

At mile 11, I almost smacked a girl at the water station who was trying to pump me up by saying "You're almost there! Don't stop and stretch now" "Uhhh...thanks but my left leg's about to fall off!"

From that point on, I remember nothing until the numbness in my legs as I sprinted through the Finish Line. (Just for the effect, of course)

The Beautiful Views:)

Oh, don't mind me, just stretching for the big race!

Nobody actually poses like this except for me. I have far too many pictures of myself doing this.

In Gloucester, people have pet goats. Who knew?

As I stumbled around the finish line area grabbing for gatorades, waters and anything else people were handing out, I felt the most victorious I've felt in years! I was finished and I didn't even suck that much! Next time, I will actually train and run hills and build my leg muscles in case there are anymore mountains I'll need to run up and down. Overall, it was amazing and I'm so excited to do more. 

Jordan conducted a nice, professional video interview with me after the run that I'll try and post soon. Thank you to Jordan for waking up really early after his first MLL game and wandering around in the cold weather while I trudged along the course all morning. We finished our day in Gloucester with some free hot dogs, muffins, and enough bananas to feed a monkey zoo:)

WAHOOOO!!!!!! It will be the first of MANY! Disturbing face huh?!