This was my first half marathon. 13.1 miles.
I trained for 12 weeks, running 185 miles in preparation for this day. Over the course of training, I lost about 9 pounds, and lost a pants size. I don’t even want to add up the amount of time that was spent in training. 
I was very devoted to the training schedule, but grew very weary and tired of it those last few weeks. I enjoyed the runs up to 7 or so miles, and then they became such a chore. I know this is partially because of all the other things going on and not wanting to devote 1.5 – 2 hours in the middle of my weekend to go run.
The race day weather was pretty great. It was chilly, with a slight wind but could have been worse. When we left for the race it was 42 degrees out, and probably climbed to about 48 during the run. The wind bothered me at times, but wasn’t terrible. It got really windy after the race ended so I was just thankful it held off before that! I wore short sleeves with a light running jacket over, which I was able to keep on the whole time, just pushing my sleeves up or pulling them back down throughout, and knee-length running leggings.
I woke up at 4:45 am and ate some oatmeal and 2 pieces of toast with butter. I had coffee and water. Got dressed. Waited with anticipation.
Millie and Anna picked me up at 6:00 am sharp, and we got there, found parking, and waited in line for a port-a-potty at the starting line for about 10 minutes. After using the restroom, it was about 10 minutes til the start time of 7:00 am. Millie suggested we say a prayer so we hugged up and put our heads together while Millie said an amazingly touching prayer for us sisters. My emotions and adrenaline were high and I even teared up. This adventure was such a cool thing to do “with” my sisters!! We said AMEN and headed off to our corrals. Mill & Anna were in corral 2 with an estimated time of 2 hours, and I went to corral 4 which was for 10:00 – 10:30 minute miles.
I started the race at about 7:10, being in the 4th corral. I had my music in my ears, gloves and and warm headband/earband on and off we went.
I don’t think I’ve ever run a race that had time corrals and it was very nice because there was not a lot of passing or people weaving in and out of each other – everyone was kind of just running at a similar pace together. I spotted a couple of girls who looked about my age and pace who I dubbed “my pink girls” who were dressed just like me (black capris and pink tops) and I secretly decided I would pace with them. Not sure why I decided on them, besides they were keeping a good pace and looked like girls I might be friends with! Haha. I kept up the same distance behind them for the first 6 miles. They didn’t stop for water breaks but I always got right back with them. I took water or gatorade at every single water station (every 1.5 miles) because I read that you need 1/2 cup of water EVERY 15 minutes to stay hydrated while running. I think it helped keep my energy level high and give me a great finish time.
When we reached the 5 mile marker this was the first time I looked at my watch. It had only been 46 minutes so I knew I was making GREAT time above my usual 10 minute mile.
Sometime after mile 6 I lost my pink girls. I am pretty sure I passed them. I also noticed I had passed the 10:00 minute mile pacer, who had started several minutes before me in a lower corral. I decided that I was going to finish ahead of that pacer!
The hardest part of the race was still ahead though. The furthest I’d run in training was 10 miles, and we had this hill ahead during mile 9:
Yuck! That hill was long and steep, and the road was straight, so I got to stare at it for about 10 minutes before I actually hit it. (This was on Main Street heading from the stockyards to downtown…which should be called UP town, no?)
Running through the Stockyards was cool because people lined the streets just like they do for the Stockyard parades, but the streets there are very uneven cobblestone brick, and were not nice on the feet. Our spectators said they saw a couple of bloody faces run by and I said I bet their falls happened on those bricks!
I walked two times during this race and up that hill was one of them. I only walked for less than a minute but it definitely helped me make it up the rest of the hill. Mill told us that Dad had given her some advice to pass along to us: Before you hit the hill, establish a good breathing pattern and then shorten your stride while going up the hill. I thought about those short strides the whole way up and it doing that made it way more doable than any big hill I’ve ever done before (Thanks Daddy!)
At the very top of the hill was the Courthouse, and more importantly, my cheering station!!
Do you like the signs Daddy made for us?
Here’s a picture they got as Mill and Anna passed. Laughing and smiling after that hill…I’m impressed!!!
When I saw my family I knew I needed a Shelby and a Coleman hug and kiss.
and a hug from my mommy was nice, too!
Jeffie was the one taking pictures so he got a high 5
The rest of the run was through downtown and then back down Lancaster to where we started. It was very gusty through downtown, and we were in the shade because of the sky-scrapers so I was glad I’d kept my jacket on. After separating from the full marathoners at mile 10 and thinking no way in hell could I only be 2/5 of the way done, I felt so good at the 11 mile marker that I took that next mile pretty fast. I wasn’t sprinting by any means but I was smiling and celebrating and thinking, “Only two more miles!!!” Then we hit mile twelve and I was hurting and that last mile was HARD. That was hardest mile of the race for me. It was the second time of the race that I walked. I walked in the last mile! One minute I was thinking, “I can’t believe these people are almost there and are giving up and walking!!” and then the next minute I was stopping to walk and thinking that I couldn’t take another step. My ankle was killing me. Looking back, I wonder if I hurt my ankle during that 10th or 11th mile. 3 days post-race, I know I have some type of injury on my inner right ankle beyond just soreness. It hurt so bad after the race that it’s probably all I talked about all day…just amazed at how sore it was. But now the rest of me is done being sore and the ankle is continuing to be swollen and the pain has even increased a little bit, walking around on it all day. It’s a mystery though.
Back to the race: Of course, I didn’t walk for long that last mile, and picked it back up before we hit the big road-lined cheering section. I took my headphones out for that last few minutes so I could hear all the cheers…though I really wasn’t impressed with the cheering. Mostly people were watching quietly- the crowd was huge but could have been MUCH MUCH louder.
There was a bottleneck at the finish as they were handing out blankets and medals, so that I had to completely stop right after crossing. I felt like I might pass out a couple of times just standing still there. (I didn’t!) I grabbed my medal and followed the signs into the “Runners food” area, where I filled my bag with goodies and got my Finisher shirt. Our cheer section was waiting for me in the adjacent room, which was designated for family reunions. You could barely get in, all the family members crowding up the entrance looking for their runner. My family was waiting smack dab under the P sign (P for Peck!) and my bestest fans ran up to greet me!
See how empty this room is? And all those people just crammed at the entrance? Makes you wonder why people don’t just use the room how it’s designed. It has letters designed to help you find who you’re looking for! So easy, if you actually DO it!
We took a few pictures before deciding to go find the beer truck
Outside we all enjoyed a Sunday morning post-race beer
The kids were such great sports, with all that waiting around all morning, and I am so thankful to have them there, along with Jeff, my mommy and daddy, and Zach (Anna’s bf). Thank you all so much!
After the race we enjoyed a lunch in Ft Worth with “bottomless mimosas” and then a lovely family nap for a couple of hours. I was too sore to sleep comfortably though.
My final result was a time of 2 hours and 8 minutes, which is a pace of 9:50 per mile. This is better than any of my training runs! 
The race results link to this cool little snapshot of how I finished.
This was definitely an experience I will remember forever. The training, the sore bones and muscles, the adrenalin…It was definitely character-building. It helps a person to believe they can do anything they put their mind to (but might only put their mind to it once.) 
But I did get a few little shots with our old camera that was in my purse. He was in quite a feisty mood yesterday.
