Thursday, December 15, 2011

I did IT!!!


Most of you already know that December 4th I ran the Angkor Wat Half Marathon in Siem Reap, Cambodia!  I trained for over two months (next time I'll train longer) and it snuck up on my quick.  I know I have always been a runner so what is the big deal, right?  Well even after running Cross Country for 10 years I have never had the urge to run a half or full marathon, just sounds crazy.  Don't get me wrong, I love running, but running that long and far, CRAZY. 

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 :-)