13 Miles Complete!!!

Sunday has come and gone, and so has our 13 miles!!!  So excited that we did it!!
We chose a rather slow interval, but we really enjoyed it.  We did a 1:05/3:00 which later we switched to 1:05/2:45 run/walk.  We weren't exactly happy with our time, but this was practice and we learned a lot.  Here is how it went:

Miles 1-4

Went FAST!!!  We talked the entire way.  We were high 5ing each other at how fast that long stretch of road past (our last run on that road seemed like an eternity to get through).  Love that we could pass areas where we had collapsed in pain on previous runs...and on this one...we just ran by pointing and saying "remember when?...or Remember that time?!"  We both felt great, everything was going good.

Just starting off...Mile 1.

Miles 5-7

VERY familiar trail for us.  It too flew by.  When we reached our potty/water station, we realized that we needed to step it up and move a little faster.  To make things more interesting, my "aunt flow" decided to visit me a week early (not surprised since I went off birth control recently).  My husband had to come to my rescue...poor guy.

 Half way done and still smiling!

Miles 8-10

Okay, now we were feeling the pain.  We were speed walking more and the talking had come to a halt.  I had my Iphone to listen to, so that helped.  It was starting to get dark by now and I was wondering if we shouldn't cut it short.  The last leg of our run was in the country meaning no city lights!  I didn't like the sound of that.  But we kept on going and the light was minimal, but enough for us to see our feet. 

Miles 11-13

There was light at the end of the road!  We made our last turn and the city lights could be seen...so glad because it was now pitch dark out.  We started pushing through the pain and ran through intervals.  How freakin' awesome is that?!  That tells me that our interval was a good one...since we could push through at the end with out extreme exhaustion and pain and run through intervals at the end!  Everyone wants to see a runner finish hard...not crawl across without an once of energy remaining.  When we ended our run, getting to the car was a chore!  The stiffness and pain was kicking in now that we had stoped moving.

Look how well my partner sticks out in that bright yellow shirt!

I went home and stretched on the living room floor.  Moving was so painful!  I literally crawled up the stairs to take a shower.  After the hot shower, I was feeling better.  I poped 2 Tylenol PM pills and crawled into bed.  As expected, I had a little trouble sleeping.  But, this morning, I feel great.  Yes, you bet I'm walking funny and there is still some minor pain, but I was shocked at how good I feel.

We can now say that we have done the distance of a half marathon!  How freakin' cool is that?!  I'm so proud of us.  We set out this year to accomplish something that seemed so far out of reach, and here we are...3 weeks away from completing our first 1/2 marathon!!!!!!  Where did the time go?!  We've noticed how much healthier we are, how simple a little jog down the road is now compared to when we first started.

Thanks for all of the good luck wishes.  We survived!