We walked a half-marathon!

A month or so back, Sara convinced me to sign-up for the Boulder Back Roads Half Marathon.  I was a little hesitant signing up to walk a half marathon, but I figured what the heck.

Yesterday I awoke at 4:50am and got ready for the race.  I brought a change of clothes, shoes and socks just in case.  I met Sara at the Whole Foods in Broomfield at 6:30 and from there it was off to the Boulder Reservoir.  With almost 2,500 people competing, we found a parking spot and decided to check things out.

While we waited for the race to start, we did a little stretching and a lot of people watching.  There were young people whose shirts said “Will run for beer” and old people who were in better shape than me!  As race time approached, I kept inching us to the back of the pack.  My biggest fear was that we’d get run over in the rush as everyone took off.  The good news is that we didn’t!

The first few miles were easy.  We were walking at a good pace and even passing other walkers.  At the half way point we started to slow down, but we were still moving.  At the 9 mile mark we were passed by a few ladies whom we thought would never catch us, so we jogged up a hill and took back our lead.  After the 11th mile I felt like the toes on my left foot were going to fall off.  This is where we saw Jaala our co-worker and we cheered her on as she was finishing up the full marathon – you go girl!

With only a few hundred yards left, Sara and I felt the need to finish the race with a jog.  On lookers and fellow racers were cheering us on from their cars and the finish line…what a rush of adrenaline.  We finished up with a time of 3:43:29.3.  Not bad as our goal was to finish in less than 3 hours and 45 minutes.

After the race ended we both untied our shoes, enjoyed a quick snack and then headed off to Whole Foods to have our post-race snack.  I practically feel asleep driving home, but it wasn’t until after my nap that I realized how much my knee hurt.

If you haven’t seen my knee before, the big scar is from my second knee surgery.  The good news is that after icing my knee and taking some ibuprofen I feel like I’m back to 80% today…which isn’t too bad in my mind.  Especially now that I’m in my 30s!

Kudos go out to my walking buddy Sara.  I’m so proud of our accomplishment and of you.  Thank you not only for encouraging me to participate in this event, but for being there for me on a daily basis.  You are a true blessing in my life!