2:13:14

My giant finishing medal

I was aiming to run this half marathon in 2:15, and... Drum roll please...

I finished in 2:13:14!

This year I wasn't as nervous as last year. I actually had a pretty good sleep, even though it was shorter than I would have liked. I got up at 4:00am this morning. That probably seems insane, but I don't normally run in the morning, so I needed to convince my body that I was running later in the day. I got up and started hydrating immediately. I did some yoga to loosen up a bit, had breakfast, and had a quick shower. Tom and I were out of the house by 6:15am, and by then the nerves were kicking in.

We arrived on the Stampede grounds at 6:40am. I lined up for the washroom, and made some last minute decisions about my running gear (layering, water bottles, etc.) The start gun started in no time at all.

This was the first time that I ran a full 21km. The furthest I went in training was 18km.

Many people advised me to run slowly after the start gun-- actually go slower than my intended race pace. I can understand how people can take off. There are thousands of people around you trying to get into position, and it seemed like everyone and their dog were passing me in the first three kilometers. But I settled into my pace without any problems.

At about 8km, somewhere on 11th Avenue, Tom was waiting on a street corner to cheer me on. He then cut through the course so he could meet me again on Memorial Drive.

Somewhere around the 12km marker, I decided to break out my sports beans-- jelly beans made for an energy boost. I had trained with these jelly beans, so imagine my surprise when a kilometer later, I experienced some debilitating cramps. I tried to run through them, but I just couldn't handle the pain, so I eventually walked them out. Luckily they went away, and when I started running again they didn't come back. I didn't try eating any more of the jelly beans after that!

Around 15km I saw Tom again on the side of the course. By then I had developed what felt like a blister on the sole of my foot. So when Tom asked, "How are you doing?" I replied, "I HAVE A BLISTER!" And indeed, I have a very large blister. It's strange, because during my 301km of training running, I never had a single blister form. So why now? What was I doing differently? I suspect it was because I ran the majority of the race on the right hand side of the road which was slightly sloped from traffic. But I guess I'll never know.

Around kilometer 17 I saw a man bail on the road. I'm not sure if he tripped, but he fell to the ground and hit the curb. Two ladies pulled him up and asked him if he was okay, but by the time I got anywhere near, he had already started running again. I guess he got away unscathed.

At 18km, I started a chant inside my head, "3.1km, that's nothing, you can do that." And slowly, I ticked off the kilometers to the end of the race.

By kilometer 20, I was considering slowing down to walk again, but I just couldn't let myself. I was so close!

And then, at about 20.5km, I saw a familiar face in the crowd. Billy!

I hate to brag... But seriously, my friends are awesome. I could never hope for a better group of friends. Five of them showed up bright and early on Sunday (apparently they arrived at 8am) bearing personalized signs.

Jeff: Don't Die Amanda

Steve: Making Signs is Hard Too

Ashley: Amanda, Run Like There's a Shoe Sale Ahead!

Billy: Amanda, You Da Bomb!!

Andy also accompanied them, but is not featured in the pictures because he had left to find his sister in the crowd.

Seeing these guys gave me the boost I needed to sprint (okay, semi-sprint) to the finish line.

My friends are awesome. That is all.

Tom and I find each other post-race.

I think this will be my only half marathon this year, but next year I suspect I will run a few more. I think I'd like to do some more training and try to whittle away at my personal best. This was a really great experience for me.

Thanks to everyone who came out and cheered, or supported my fundraising for LINKages Society of Alberta!!!

I'm one happy runner-- except for the blister...