The Half (with Pictures)

Sorry I have not posted. Life was pretty crazy. I have even had a weeks worth of food poisoning... but hey, I lost 10 lbs, lets see if I can hold on to most of that loss! ha!

The half was amazing. I have no words for the emotions I felt. Amazing is so paltry.

What I can do, is give you a small recap, so you can run it with me! haha!
Favi and I met up almost an hour before the run was supposed to start. I was thinking that would give us plenty of time to potty, but not so much time that we would get sick from being so nervous! Boy, was I wrong! It should have taken us a little over 20 minutes to drive to the race. When we were less than 5 minutes away... we hit the race traffic! It took us 20 minutes to get to the race from there! We were freaking out so much that Favi even prayed for us to get there... right there in the car. That was so awesome to me. Then we had to find a place to park, but God provided a great little spot so close to the starting line! We got out, still debating over the amount of clothes to wear, and walked quickly to the starting line. Once we passed the starting line (because we knew we needed to be in the front of the last third of people) wouldn't you know the gun goes off! What? We both needed to pee! Crap, oh well.

So, we walk and walk till the runners thin out and we can actually run. My silly iPod just would not start.. but then it was under like three layers and I couldn't see the silly thing! ha! I did get it started around the half mile mark. So, there we are, happily running.. but oh boy did we both need a porta potty! Pass the mile mark, then the two mile mark, then the three mile mark.. what? Saw a girl run into a field and squat behind some bushes.. saw a couple men do the same sort of thing. Thought the website said there would be porta potties every 2 miles! Then, there it is... oh wait, there is a line 10 women deep! What? Ok fine, we HAVE to go, so we wait. I am positive that it was at least a good 10 minute wait till our turn. Meanwhile, we all (the other women in line) realize that this particular potty was not part of the race, but actually for the construction workers at that build site! haha! Oh well, waited this long, right? Oh, and once we get back to running... there were FOUR potties at the next water station! Bah!

So, we finally get started again, get warmed up again, and get to passing all the heaving masses (yes, heaving... they sounded like they had not even run 5 miles before the way these poor people were gasping for breath!). We fell pretty good, talking and running! We get to the lake and I know that we are at mile 4 through 6ish. We pass a race worker and someone in front of us asks her what mile we are on.. she says 7. What? No.. we feel to god for that! Ha, we were right, there is the mile 10K marker. We kept with the hydration and nutrition that had helped us in training and we felt pretty good. In fact, the whole race was pretty non eventful! Well except that my iPod totally died at mile 10 so I have no idea how fast we really went! (as far as it was on, we were clocking in 10:15 miles)We get to about mile 8.5 when I finally see them. Our precious hubbies and our little boys! We run by giving our men hugs and our babies kisses! Alison, my dear friend that was at The Boy's birth, was screaming and yelling so loud. So great. Then not even another mile later, I see another of my friends. That was so great! Of course, I had to completely, literally run OVER one of her kids, but hey, when there are kids, there is wonderful chaos, right?

Now all the excitement of friends and family is over. The last of the race is before us. Personally, I was doing great till about mile 12. Then my legs just decided that they had had enough and were locked in. I knew I would finish, that was not the issue. They just would not go any faster. I didn't even really hurt or anything. They just wouldn't GO.

Poor Favi had been suffering through all the hills. MAN there were a LOT of hills. I had not even thought about training for hills. Anyway, growing up in OK, we TRAINED for hills. So for me, my mind is quite capable of managing those hills just fine, in fact, it is so strong on hills, that it makes up for my body! (Proof again to me that all this fitness stuff is more about the mind than the brawn!) So, she is griping at me for leaving her on hills, and there I am at the end, incapable of getting to the finish line any faster. She literally reached her hand back and pulled me at one point. haha! Then, we are less than half a mile away, I can hear the finish line, and I must have been going even slower. My poor body just would not give me more! I told her go on. She said, "No, I would not be doing this if you had no pushed me, and we are finishing this together! " I could have cried right there. And then I saw it... the 13 mile mark. I totally started tearing up. I am SO ugly when I cry, so I tried so hard to keep it back. I wanted my picture at the finish line to be with a smile! haha! All I thought all the way till the end was, "JRo.. you did it.. you finally did it. You made it all the way to the end. You did it. Did you hear me? YOU DID IT JRo! YOU DID IT! It really is going to happen... you really made it. It is there, right there, that finish is waiting for you!" I so wanted to grab Favi's hand and run across that line together. (Apparently so did she, I should have done it!) We hugged and then I finally let the tears really roll. Some sweet kids form the ROTC gave everyone that crossed the finish line a metal. We proudly wore ours! haha!

So, the race is done, we take a few pictures, and go out to eat. SOOO hungry, and so tired, and so sore! When I got home, maybe the best surprise, a huge sign (which is STILL up and will go in my garage gym I am creating this month) made by Laura and her boys! WOW! So great. I squealed when we pulled up. There is was on my garage door! GREATNESS! Thanks Laura!
Oh, and one last comment. The Team in Training people have all kinds of respect from me now. They cheered their hearts out for EVERYONE. It really helped when some of the miles started to drain on the mind and body. I thought of JinxxxyGirl talking about how the 'family' of running seems to be disappearing and I wished she was there to see and hear that. Also, there were a couple of members of a Black Church (we assumed that was who they were, it fits)... wow... those people KNEW how to cheer a person on! WAHOO, GLOOORY! We giggled and talked about them for a whole mile AFTER they cheered us on!