Akron Half Marathon

After months of training and injuries... the day arrived! I was so excited and nervous. I'm pretty sure I went to the bathroom a million times that morning. As the race started, I was on fire! I was running 12.30 minute miles and feeling so good! Then, at 7 miles, my energy went down. I held out as long as I could and at about 9 miles, my entire body was on fire. I started to granny walk. At 10.5 miles, I was about to call it quits. I was in tears, feeling like I couldn't go on. A man passed me and as he did he said "you're almost there, don't you see that 12 mile sign? You can do it!" I felt empowered. I thought at this point there is no way I can quit. Those last 4 miles were a spiritual experience. I knew that it was a worthy goal I had prepared for and everything came together. I ended up finishing faster than I thought I would (3 hours 24 minutes) thanks to a strong beginning.

At the end of the day, all I felt was self confidence. My husband was so proud of me, it was insane to see him so excited for me. After, he said "so we're going to do a Century, right?". I guess we're never done progressing and this was an exciting goal. Although it was painful and mostly miserable, I think I may do one again sometime. :)

Sarah