Half Marathon Runner

Trying to find the words to describe how I feel today is proving to be harder than I expected now that I can now call myself a half marathon runner.  Not the words to describe how I physically feel because I could tell you pretty easily that I feel pretty good considering that I ran for 13.1 miles yesterday.  My knees hurt a bit, my back is a little stiff, and my feet are achey, but other than that I feel pretty good.It is the emotional side of things that I cannot quite put into words.  It is only because I am feeling so many things at once today. I feel glad that it is over with.  It is like a weight has been lifted off my shoulders because I have been putting so much pressure on myself about this race recently.  I was just so nervous, not ever having run a race in my life made this quite a challenge.  And I didn't really know what to expect, or how I would handle it, or what if something happened and I couldn't finish.  I was just really worried.I am also amazed.  My dad has run marathons and half marathons.  My brother has run a half marathon.  And my sister has run a half marathon.  It was one of those things that I watched them do, always giving the excuse to myself that I was just not made like them because I definitely was not a runner.  But in my head I was always thinking that someday I had to do it.  I am a very competitive person, and mostly, even though I had so much doubt that I would be able to do it, I wanted to prove to myself that I could.  It was one of those things that I kept saying that I would do "someday". But after setting a goal at the beginning of the year to run a race, and then having a group of people that work with Trevor decide to all run in it, it seemed like "someday" was presenting itself to me earlier than I ever expected.  With a lot of fear, mostly because I did not want to fail, I signed up.  When at the end of December I could only run a mile (on a good day), four months later I can say I can run 13.1 miles.  And where I am having trouble coming up with the words is how to describe what it feels like to accomplish one of your lifetime goals.  It was not a goal of mine to do it this year, or in the next couple of years.  It was a goal to do it sometime in my lifetime.  I don't know how to describe that kind of accomplishment.Onto the little details, of course I wanted someone there to take pictures so badly, but it sure is hard to talk someone into leaving the house at 4:30 AM, watch us start a race at 7 AM, and then watch us finish over two hours later.  But right before we were going to bed on Saturday night, my brother Gabe called me and said that him, Sam and my mom wanted to come.  Trevor and I were so excited to have someone there to cheer us on, and it made all the difference at mile 11 when I knew they were waiting for me at the end.Here is a picture of us before the race.  I really cannot believe I am even showing these pictures because I just don't look myself - so please don't judge. You can tell how very nervous I was.  I was driving everyone crazy with my nervous laughter and constant questions.  Sam and Gabe get the photo credits.This is us at the start of the race.  I look horribly nervous, and it looks like Trevor is praying.  Ha!And here is a picture of the group of us that some how got into this mess together.For me the first five miles were good, five through nine was long but not bad, and nine through thirteen was exhausting.  My feet have never hurt so much!Here is Trevor coming into the finish.  We finished onto the University of Toledo's football field.  Trevor's official time was 2:10:04.Here I am coming into the finish.  My official time was 2:27:49.  My goal was to finish before 2:30.  As soon as I heard my family yelling my name when I ran in I starting hyperventilating.  I've never done that before, but I guess I was just so tired and emotional at the same time.  Luckily I got my breathing under control quickly. Trevor and I after the race.  I was so exhausted and cold.  With the fog and the wind picking up at the end, we were both freezing!And here is a video of me finishing the race.  I love how in the video Trevor says sarcastically, "Don't Sprint".  I couldn't even think about sprinting at the time...I could barely breathe, let alone sprint.Leah Half Marathon from Leah Fruth on Vimeo.Thank you to everyone for all of your support and well wishes! I appreciate it so much. It helped more than you know.