Nyce Life: I am a half marathoner! Savannah Rock and Roll

I am still alive, though not blogging. Fall always does me in with all the kids activities, my volunteering activities and this year, my training for the Savannah Rock and Roll 1/2 Marathon. Which I did on Saturday. And had FUN! I ran for the local DS group, and of course for Thomas :)

(got that from races2remember.com they are great, fast and personal!)

Backing up a bit, I never fully got back after my bad hamstring issue in my 2nd to last post (almost 3 months ago, ack!). I continued the training program, but walked for a few weeks, gradually introducing small runs but never fully running. It worked for me, I was able to prevent further injury and continue training.

one of my training runs- Tybee Rails to Trails

My modified goal for the race once I realized I wouldn't be running the whole thing was a very modest under 3 hours. Which I did. BARELY. Was registered for the thing for 15 months. Dedicated training for 18 weeks. Ran/walked for almost 3 hours, and making my goal came down to FIVE SECONDS! My official time was 2:59:55! That does include 2 stops at the medical tent for bandages for a HUGE blistery thing on the ball of my right foot. Had been kind of nursing that since I came into the double digit training runs and it was bad from around 6 miles on in this race. Was going to just suck it up, but figured I did want to be able to walk and care for my family after this ;)

starting line at sunrise

There were over 23,000 people in this race, but it didn't feel nearly as crowded as I'd imagined. There were 25 corrals (I was in the back in corral 23) that were released about every minute to spread people out. The race began at 7:30, but it was after 8 before I crossed the starting line (And almost 1/2 mile in before then too ;) )

Click for Time lapse video of starting line (go to around 3:30 for race start)

I felt strong going out, however I had put some gels in my back pocket of my running skirt and they made my skirt keep falling down! So I had to take them out (I had never used them in training anyhow). I knew I needed to keep my miles around 13:40 to keep under 3 hours, and was going a little faster than this for the first several miles- was in the 12's the first couple. I knew I wanted to bank some time due to my foot- in training I had had to stop to fix my sock, bandage, etc., so I figured that was a possibility here as well- glad I did!

The crowds were great, I hi-5'd 100s of people and had a blast. The bands were great too, but I was glad I brought my music because between them I needed some. The miles actually went by really quickly- until around here------>
this is when I was really favoring my torn up foot. But I knew it was only 2 miles left, and I had about 27 minutes to do it in, so I kept pushing on.

As I rounded the corner towards the finish line, I was in a lot of pain, but I started to run again. It was then I heard, "KRISTIN!" and turned around to see Mark and the kids in the front row cheering me on!! (this was a surprise, they were going to stay home b/c of all the road closings and traffic). This kept me going for the final 1/10th of a mile, and probably let me get in under 3 hours.

Right after I got my medal (heavier than I thought!) and my silver blanket (it was COLD out!) I headed to the charity village part of Forsyth Park, limping across the green. The Lowcountry Down Syndrome Society had a great tent with everything I needed, namely powerade and a chair!

So happy my family and friends were there- what a great day for everyone involved!

Said during training, never again, but already I am making my plans for November 3rd, 2012!