Well how did I get signed up for this race then? Well last year I went to Siem Reap and toured some of the temples with my friends Jen, Danielle, and Aly and there were just unbelievably. I heard about this race and thought how cool would it be to run around Angkor Wat, the unofficial 8th Wonder of the World. I can't believe looking back that I did it, just seems like a dream. I need to get the photos up so I can "believe" it really happened.
During my training I ran further and longer than I ever have in my whole life and to top it off at almost the heaviest I have ever been. It was painful and hard a lot of the time, but also there was times when I remembered why I love running so much. Even with all the extra weight I still consider myself a runner and always will be, just heavier and slowier. That being said I still finished a HALF marathon, that is just crazy to me.
The field was pretty intense and strong, not many people were at the back of the pack with me, but I had a few people around to motivate me. The night before I was a mess and the morning up, even worse. I was like "What the heck are you thinking?" "You aren't ready for this!" "What did you get yourself into?" It was an adrenaline pumping morning to say the least but I did my warm-up and reminded myself that I just want to finish this race, I don't care about my time. I really wanted to run the whole thing, because I've never walked in a race before, but all the other races have been mostly under 4 miles :-)
Well the run started and it was pretty cool with all the people cheering and then we headed up onto the course. I went out a little fast, but not too bad. The first 4 miles were pretty good and then I started to hurt, around mile 6 I wanted to die. I honestly didn't think there was a chance in hell that I would finish this race, I was hurting so bad and only about half way done. It was at that point I had to walk, I cried because I have never walked in a race before and I really wanted to run the whole thing, but my body was saying, "NO!" Funny enough that when I started walking I was actually walking faster than my running speed was before I stopped to walk. So I actually passed a few people in my walk. At that point I was down but was going to finish this race, no matter what. But I really didn't think I was going to be able to run again. Well low and beyond I only walked for 2 miles and then jogged in the last 3 plus miles at a pretty good speed. So I finished strong, no smile though (saw the race photos, yikes) but after I crossed that finish line I was smiling. I thought I was going to pass out but I was so unbelievably proud of myself for sticking with it and not giving up. It wasn't perfect but I did it. I DID IT!!
Thank you for all your support, advice, and love during this! I really needed it and thought about you all during the run, a lot! So guess I can check one off on the ol bucket list now :-) I think someday I would like to do another one, but first I want to lose a good chunk of weight and get my right foot checked out by an ortho. Anyways I just wanted to fill you all in on the experience and say thank you!
Jenn, Half Marathon Finisher, have the medal to prove it :-)
