Our 1st Half Marathon

Sunday, October 18th Kyle and I ran our first half marathon together in Des Moines. We spent the night in Des Moines Saturday night, had a pasta supper, and got up early to gear up for the 8am start!

I think I had butterflies in my stomach for about 3 days before the race, but the morning of I was just excited, no nervous-ness. So that was good. We planned to run together and that is just what we did. I love that it was our first half marathon and that we ran it together! Just to note, Kyle could finish WAY faster than me, but he was kind enough to stay with his slow wife!        

Pre-race. We had just met up with Dad. Notice our layers & gloves! It was 39 degrees!

And Angie just happened to walk by!! Out of all the people we run into each other…how cool!! (I work with Angie at Iowa Central)

 

8am sharp the gun went off for the start of the race! Now keep in mind there about 8000 people so we really didn’t start running until about 3 minutes after the gun went off.

 

See me? I was so happy because Stef, Geoff, &  Mindi made it to see us off just in time!

 

High-five’s from Stef!!

They found Dad! 

The race started at Nollen Plaza in downtown Des Moines with a view of the capitol! 

We were rounding mile 2 and I got pretty excited ‘cause I saw my family…cheering us on!!     

Miles 2-7ish were a total breeze. I didn’t want to think about how easy it seemed though because I knew we weren’t even half done yet. And the majority of those miles were in Waterworks Park. We each grabbed a water on the go at 2 different water stations and kept up a great pace. And I kept wondering if we would see my family…AKA “THE BEST RACE CHEERLEADERS EVER”!!!!!

And we did!! Right around mile 6ish! Look at the shadows…that is Mindi and Stef singing their hearts out with a super cool personalized song cheering us on!! Seeing them really kept me going & pumped! 

I don’t remember what mile this was…but you can tell we were happy to see them once again!!      

Miles 9…we’re well over half way & still feeling great! Kyle and I high-fived the same number of times as what mile we were on all through the race. Ex. mile 9 = 9 high-fives! 

Stef & Mindi joined us at mile 9 for short time! Mindi was pretty excited shouting “I’m running a 1/2 marathon!!!!”  Mindi’s in the gray hat & Stef is in the Navy coat!

I know I’ve said it a lot, but I cannot put into words what it meant to have them there ALL ALONG THE RACE ROUTE supporting & cheering us on the whole time!!! THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU!!! 

Something cool Stef & Mindi found out is that Rebecca from the current season of the Biggest Loser was running the 1/2 marathon too! So they made friends with her camera man! I guess his name was Brandon! 

Here comes Rebecca…she has lost over 100 lbs and looks great! Make sure to watch her on the Biggest Loser!

She kicked up her heels when my sisters cheered for her! :)

 

This was the last time we saw Dad, Geoff, Stef, & Mindi. And I wasn’t feeling near as good…we had taken a water/walk break about 1/2 mile earlier and my legs got tight and heavy really fast. I now know it’s best just to drink and run. Walk breaks are NOT good!  

The last 2 1/2 – 3 miles were a mental challenge for me. My family mentioned when they saw us at mile 11 “Kyle are you even breaking a sweat?” I honestly don’t think he was! He is so strong, but I’m so happy that he stayed with me for our first race!

We finally made it, rounded the last turn, and could see the finish line about 1/3 mile ahead of us and something inside me came out and I was at “all out dead spring”! And of course Kyle was right there with me!!!    

Kyle spotted Stef and had to get 1 more high five!!        

We crossed the finish line right over 2 1/2 hours and our goal was just that…so I was happy!! We got metals and my family was right there to congratulate us!!!        

I was a tad wore out!! :p   

Kyle, me, and our cheering squad!! I told them, “You guys took so many of our pictures, I wish I could have gotten some of you because you were so entertaining!” Once again, thank you so much for coming to support us!! It really meant a lot!!  

Rebecca from the Biggest Loser!!! How cool that we got to meet her…we even high fived!! :)

We did it! Now Kyle is contemplating doing a full marathon and I think I am going to stick to the 1/2 marathons and just try to beat my previous time