Race Day!

WARNING!!!! I LOOK HORRID IN EVERY ONE OF THESE PICTURES!!!!!

I realize most people don't look very cute when they are running, but for some reason I look very odd in these pictures! Maybe it was the cold/sleepy/exhausted mix I had going on, but I wasn't (I'm still not) very excited about how these turned out. Oh well. 

We were running pretty late due to traffic, so we hurried and met up with my mom before the race to give her our bags/coats. To set the scene a bit, it was sort of spitting rain and it was in the low 40s. It was also 6:30am. We had to ditch Matthew (Katelyn's boyfriend) with the truck and run the last few blocks to the race start because of the traffic. Not the best start to the day.

Pre-race picture

 The course ran around Urbana. We checked it out beforehand to pick spots we thought my mom would be able to beat us to and watch us run, but she ended up missing me the entire time. Whoops. She did see Craig and Katelyn, so I guess that's a plus! She got a picture of me running through the finish line...

HURTIN' FOR CERTAIN!

So happy it's over!

 Craig finished the race in about 1 hour and 45 minutes. (Woohoo!) He is a huge sweetheart and came back through the race to find me. He ran with me for a little bit, but he was hurting pretty bad so he just met me after the race.

He closes his eyes in EVERY picture.

Katelyn and Matthew

This is the professional picture that I borrowed from the site :) Shh...

This is my FIRST EVER 1/2 marathon race bib and medal!

So, to sum up my first 1/2 marathon ever, it sucked. It was cold, crowded, I was out of shape, and my body pretty much fell apart. Both knees (one worse than the other) were killing me, my toes were cramping the entire time, and my quads were burning like a banshee! My goal time was 2 hours and 10 minutes, and I ended up finishing in 2:19:50. I wasn't very happy with the time, but the entire time I was running I was thinking I would be proud of myself just to finish, so whatever. I also swore that I wouldn't do it again, but of course, I've already changed my mind. I guess there's something addictive about it. I couldn't be happier that it's finally over, but I am already starting to plan my next training regimen :)