13.1

Wow this past weekend was a crazy whirlwind of emotions. Saturday afternoon we drove to Rockford IL. We checked into the Red Roof Inn. Yes the Red Roof. It actually wasn't a bad hotel. The had updated the inside of all the rooms. We then drove to packet pickup and the "expo". Yeah one lady from a bath fitter place was the expo. We all pondered crashing a wedding ( we didn't). The girls had me freaked out about running more than 2hrs and chafing issues so then we headed to Dick's sporting goods. At this point I hadn't slept great in 3 nights and was a little loopy. We wandered the store for a while pointing out all the fun things. I bought body glide and not even thinking had the receipt emailed which goes to my husbands email. I got a text a short time later; body glide? I couldn't help but laugh.
We met our group for dinner at the Olympic Tavern. They have a great beer selection and decent food. It was great conversation over our meal with great friends. We all shared a brownie sundae at the end with I think 8 spoons.

We all went back to the hotel and had a stretching party before bed.
4:00 am is and early wake up but that is what we did for race day. As I was putting on my clothes I started getting nervous. It was becoming real. In the back of my head I was sad that I had picked my first half far from home and my family wouldn't be there. I did have my running family with me so that helped and Jessica.

We did all the before race pictures and lined up. I told Jessica I wanted to stick with a 10:30 pace for the entire race. Which by the way she is an awesome pacers. She had to yell monkey at me a few times so I would slow down but that was it.
 So the race.. The first few miles were great. I should say minus the hills. Whoever said Rockford was a flat and fast course is crazy. Anyway, I was trying to make sure I drank water and had a plan to take a Gu at miles 3, 6, 9. By mile 5 I realized I wasn't really sweating and I could feel my skin getting salty so I upped my water and also started drinking gatorade at the aid stations. We decided to walk the aid stations so we could get fluids down. We made sure to make up the time after.
 Starting just after mile 11 my brain starting questioning what I was doing. I felt like everything hurt and I wanted to walk. I managed to push through it. I just kept telling myself I was almost done. With about a half mile to go I started speeding up and even ran the last hill. The second I turned the corner and saw the finish with all the people I started to cry. I couldn't believe I was going to finish a half marathon. Then 2 seconds later I gathered myself realizing all my friends were at the finish and I didn't want them seeing me cry. I crossed the finish at 2:17:53. Almost 3 minutes faster than I was hoping for. Having such a great group of runners there made this event.
Of course I wanted to eat all the food and drink all the beer yesterday. I swear my body took forever to become full.
I love spectators at races that cheer for everyone not just their person. There was a couple from Crystal Lake Brewery that showed up almost every 2 miles and cheered people on. They were great for the spirit.
Today surprisingly my body isn't that sore. But stairs are the devil. Also carrying the baby up and down the stairs is also the devil.
I just want to add a huge thank you to Jessica for coming in town and doing this crazy race with me. Also to my awesome running family. You guys are always willing to support everyone and get us the miles we need. And finally my husband and kids for being ok with me spending time away and supporting my craziness.