13.1.

this past saturday, i ran my first half marathon! and by ran, i mean we ran most of it and ran/walked a good portion of the last 4 miles. i hadn't ran a single mile the month leading up to the race due to some terrible shin splits, and half assed all my training this summer/fall, so i knew it wasn't going to be easy.

i am not sure what were we thinking when we signed up for this race back in march. running in the south in the summer is pretty much like hell, and neither one of us do treadmills. throw in concerts, beach trips, and football season, there wasn't much time for running! we chose to do the rock n' roll savannah half simply because it fell on a weekend that south carolina & clemson both had a bye week. yes, our priorities are straight.

none the less, kristin & i crossed that finish line!

{start line}

 



 

{pre-race}

our hotel was literally at the start line of the race (thank you, daddy!) so we woke up around 5:30am, laid in bed, ate some bananas, got dressed and headed out to the corrals around 6:30am. the port-o-potty lines were out of control, and i was very thankful that we didn't have to use them. we stretched and hung around before we finally lined up in our corral around 6:50am. after the national anthem they started the count down for the first corral and they were off! about 20 minutes later we made our way up to the start line and so it began.

the only hill the entire race was within the first mile over a bridge - how's that for a flat course? miles 1-3 took us straight through the ghetto of savannah. around mile 3.5, i started to get a cramp, so i stopped to catch my breathe and lost klav. i don't really remember anything noteworthy about miles 4-7 other than being thankful for water and gatorade, and laughing at people's signs. somewhere between mile 8-9 (i think), i found kristin! it was just the right time for us to find each other - i think we both needed it. we ran & walked our way through the last few miles and i was so glad we got to cross the finish line together.

i was overcome with joy when we crossed over the finish line. i smiled my way over to my mom & brian and can't remember a time i was so happy to see them. i teared up a bit when i got to my parents. i realize people run half marathons all the time, but this was a huge accomplishment for little ol' me! we grabbed some chocolate milk, water, power bars, our medals, took a picture and then found a spot to sit down.

 

after resting for a few minutes, we went to meet up with the rest of our gang that was hanging out in the park waiting for everyone to finish. my parents' best friends, their daughter, and their running gang all ran too and we celebrated with 3 bottles of champagne - reason #4568 i love dan & lynne.

 

we peeled ourselves off the ground and didn't stick around for the concert after the race. we also skipped the giant line for the free beer. you know this girl is tired when she skips free beer.

 

it was an awesome race: well organized, great {flat} course, awesome city, happy volunteers, plenty of water stations, cute shirt, fun medal, a band at almost every mile - i would definitely do it again!

 

so my first 13.1 in the books! we have already decided {read as - i decided for us} that we are going to run the publix half in atlanta in march. heck, we may even train this time :)