#hamptonshalfmarathon

This Saturday, I ran my first half-marathon. Back in May, I got an email from Equinox about the Hampton’s Marathon and Half-Marathon. I immediately forwarded it to my friend, Molly and asked her if she would be interested in doing the 5K with me. At the time, I couldn’t even fathom doing a half-marathon, much less a full one. I knew Molly would be the right person to ask because she ran in high school and college and has done a few half marathons. She quickly told me that we should sign up for the half-marathon and though I could do it. So I signed up.

I wish I could tell you that I trained for this well. I tried to do two short runs during the week and a long run on the weekend but definitely failed to do so. I could blame fashion week (which is more like fashion month) but really, I have no excuse. Yet, I felt oddly calm and ready for it. It was probably my body’s way of coping with the fact that I was probably NOT ready at all. 

I was calm and collected until the night before when a friend asked me what was the furthest I’ve run. 7 miles, I answered. I got a cringe and a you-are-screwed look. Did it feel like you could have run 5 or 6 more miles, he asked. Suddenly, the panic that should have set in awhile ago emerged. OH MY GOD. I AM NOT READY. I HAVE BARELY RUN HALF THE 13.1 MILES I’M SUPPOSED TO RUN. Perhaps my look of horror or more likely, me shouting in the middle of Hu Kitchen “I’m screwed. I’m screwed. I’m screwed....” made my friend quickly recant his concern and point out that at my level of fitness, I can probably run a half marathon. Races are things that if you reach a certain level of fitness, you can complete. Plus, I can walk part of it. At this point, I could only hope he was right. 

The next day, I hopped on the Hampton Jitney (which I almost missed due to getting stuck in traffic) and arrived at friend’s beautiful house in East Hampton. The other girls staying at the house this weekend were also running the race so there was a nice camaraderie there. I had been sleep-deprived all week so it was nice to hit the sack early.

Woke up Race Day, less panicked then I was the day before. Had a banana and my Your Tea detox tea (I’m addicted), with Blueberry-Pomegranate flavored Chomps (they taste like fruit snacks and I can eat a million of them) in my back pocket. We considered whether we should take our iPhones with us for music as the girls were doing but opted not to so we can have a more authentic experience. Got to Springs School, our starting point, took a photo or two, checked in our bags and before we knew it, the race begun!

Molly ended up being the perfect running partner. She is an amazing runner and her presence pushed me to go further. Not bringing our iPhones ended up being a great decision. I was not bored at all and felt in tune with my body. The run was so pleasant mostly because the view was so scenic. As we ran past all these beautiful homes perched by the meandering paths, I kept day dreaming about owning one myself. (Would I like a picket fence or hedges? Hedges, for sure.) 

Physically, I think everything went swimmingly. There was a slight discomfort in my right knee around mile 6 but after slowing down a bit as the wise Molly suggested, the pain subsided and didn’t worsen. When we reached the seventh mile, Molly turned to me and pointed out that I was about to run more than I had ever run. GAME ON, I thought. I kept reminding myself, You can do this. Your body can do this. It’s only your mind that’s going to want to quit. I also realized that my legs are capable of running the distance and the thing that really bothers me is the side cramps. That, I resolved, by changing up my breathing-- forcing myself to breathe deeper always makes my stitches go away. I kept pushing myself forward. For the first part of the half-marathon, we kept a pretty steady but leisurely pace, but at mile 10, Molly and I began to accelerate as we had previously discussed.

It was around the middle of the twelfth mile when it started getting rough. I told Molly to go ahead without me and I slowed down my pace. I considered walking but thought to myself, Not now. It’s too close to the finish. Do not walk. Keep going. (Except, there might have been a few expletives in there.) When I saw the “13” marker ahead of me, I suddenly felt a surge of energy. I’m almost at the finish line. So I balls to the wall sprinted and passed maybe 15 people. It was so amazing to hear all these people cheering and remarking, “Woah, look at that girl” and “YEAH! Beat that man in front of you!” When I finally crossed the finish line, I felt AMAZING.

I high-fived Molly and handed a medal by someone. I was waiting for my knees to buckle but it didn’t happen. I thought I would it be in pain but I wasn’t. I felt like a million bucks. I grabbed a bottle of alkaline water from someone who was handing out free bottles (must look into this) and stretched while we waited for the last of the girls to come in. 

I came in 786 out of 1496 and my time was 2:07:46. Not great but not too shabby for my first time, I think. It definitely is motivation for me to do better next time. Frankly, I didn’t think I could ever do a half-marathon (probably even the second before the race started, I was doubting myself... hell, even during the race, I was waiting for myself to quit...) so I’m not too bummed about my time. Lessons I learned: Do not listen to the naysayer friends, including the one inside your own heard, and I have to take my upcoming November Spartan Race training more seriously.

  Post-race, we went to Babette's for brunch-- treated myself to some polenta fries and Tuscan Kale Quinoa Bowl. it totally hit the spot, especially since the thought of delicious brunch definitely kept me going during the race.