I Run.

It's still so weird for me to admit that. I run. I run. I run, baby!! If you know me at all, you know that I'm about as far from athletic as you can get. Part of that is because I'm just plain clumsy. I'm the type of person who trips over my own feet and runs into walls and just randomly loses my balance when I'm standing still. I have never participated in sports of any kind (other than little kid soccer for a couple years...but even then, I hardly touched the ball).

So when I say I was starting from ground zero, I'm not kidding.

Ground.

Zero.

I had a couple of 5Ks under my belt over the course of the last few years, but those 5Ks were hard for me. And when I decided to give running another go this last spring, I could barely puff out a mile.

But I did. And that's the thing - running doesn't require a lot of grace. It doesn't require hand-eye coordination. And I can do it by myself, if I need to, on my own time and at my own pace.

So I made myself do a 5K in March, even though I was struggling to get to that 3-mile mark at the time. And I did it without stopping. Then I ran more. And I let it leak to a couple of friends (one is a marathon runner, the other is a very fast half-marathon runner) in my ward that I wanted to go a little farther. They started going on training runs with me and pushing me just a little farther every week. I did a 10K in May (and another 5K - a Color Run - which was just plain FUN) and a 15K in July and, last week, a half marathon. Or, as Kevin puts it, 13.1 miles of plain-out torture.

A couple of pictures from our crazy color run. It was so much fun. I love this group of gals who decided to do it with me. They're all so awesome! Also, Sadie decided to join in the color party afterwards. We were quite the dusty mess!

So. Half-marathon. This being the first time I have ever done something like this, I was a nervous wreck. It didn't help that the forecast the night before said there would be a 60% chance of rain from 5 am to 8 am. I was panicking just a teeny bit and Amber, one of my training friends who was also running the race with me, was probably secretly laughing at my overreaction and millions of questions. I think I texted her about a dozen times that evening.

It rained hard Friday night, but Saturday morning was surprisingly...rainless. But I was still feeling pessimistic and was so sure it was going to pour on us, which means I couldn't decide what to wear. Jacket? Hat? Long-sleeve shirt? How many layers?! I finally decided to suck it up and wear my normal clothes that I wear in warm weather, then just said lots of prayers that I wouldn't regret it. The race starts about seven miles up Blacksmith Fork Canyon in Hyrum. When we got out of the buses that drove us up the canyon, it was cold...but not freezing. And there was no rain. The jacket I had on was keeping me plenty warm. I breathed one sigh of relief. The wait went super fast and before I knew it, we were ditching our jackets and other gear onto the bus that would carry it down for us and crowding onto the starting line with 1600 other people.

Once the gun went off and the said 1600 people finally got moving, I warmed up super fast. By mile two, I was already grateful I didn't have a jacket to carry with me. I breathed another sigh of relief. In fact, I was so encouraged by the nice, cool temperature and gradual downhill course that I felt great with a slightly faster pace than I usually run. It barely sprinkled on us for about two miles, so those first seven miles went pretty quick and I was feeling really optimistic.

That feeling faded fast.

As soon as we got away from the downhill, I could feel myself slowing way down. The course is actually really decent and is pretty flat for the last six miles with just a few gradual uphills.  I was able to convince myself I was doing okay until about mile ten. Even though I knew I only had the equivalent of a 5K ahead of me, I felt like I could cry. It just seemed so far.

Kevin, being the awesomely supportive husband he is, hopped the course a couple of times. He even played photographer! How devoted is that? The first time I saw him on the sidelines, I was so excited and ran up and gave him a big (sweaty, stinky) hug.

The second time, though, I was exhausted. I barely had enough energy to wave and I also forgot to hand him my visor, which was driving me crazy by that time. For some reason, that dumb little spacey moment made me even more discouraged and I slowed down...again.

About a mile later and somewhere between miles 11 and 12, my faithful running buddy Amber, who had stuck with me until then - bless her heart - decided she was going to speed up a bit. I knew I was holding her back, so I was fine with it, but from that point it was a constant pep talk.

You can do this.

Don't stop.

Do not stop to walk.

You have worked too hard for this to stop now.

Think about something else. Anything.

This hurts SO BAD.

Is that the finish line?

It's so. far. out there.

But I didn't stop. I thought my legs might fall off, but I did not stop. I didn't get a massive burst of energy that helped me sprint for the finish, but I DIDN'T STOP. And that finish line was worth it. All these people were reading my name on my bib number and cheering me on by name. At first I thought it was my family...then I realized it was complete strangers. It was pretty cool. And once I finally did see my family - my mom and dad and my girls and Kevin - I smiled for the first time in about five miles.

I mean, how could you not? Look at their cute signs my mom helped them make!

My I'm-so-happy-to-see-you-I-might-just-pass-out face right before crossing the finish line:

Me and Amber in all our just-finished, sweaty, red-faced glory. 

My littlest cheering section:

Don't know what I would have done without this guy. He was SO supportive all the way through, even though I know he thought I was completely insane. Love him.

And one last little family shot (which would have been perfect if not for Avery stuffing the chocolate milk bottle in her mouth...ah well).

Lots of people have asked if I want to do another one. I might do another half someday. I'd like to. It's kind of addicting, this racing thing. (Running, not so much. I still kind of detest the actual running part of it all by itself.) And then there are those who have asked if I want to do a full marathon. And I laugh in their face. Never. Never, never, never.

NEVER.

Also, not that this was at all very important to me (seriously, my goal was just to finish the darn thing) my stats were 2:05:27 (time) 667 (overall) and 62/169 in my division. Not awful, not amazing. But okay for my first time I think!