We're Half Marthoners!!!!!!!!! (Part 3 of 3)

Wow, after 22 weeks of training, Tia and I finally did it! 

A helicopter flew over the stadium to signal the start of the day's events.

Full corrals!

Some wacky outfits out there!!!  This guy was a running fairy!  WOW!

Me the hubs.  : D

We're ready to get this party started!

In our corral getting ready to start our FIRST half marathon!

AND....WE'RE OFF!!! 

 Took us a few minutes to actually get to this point from where we started.

Here we go!!!  This is it...we're DOING IT!!!

Look at all of these PEOPLE!  Can you tell that this year's shirts were BLUE?!

Not sure what was up with the ice cream costume...but I thought it was cruel that they weren't offering any ice cream cones!  lol

Lots of music along the way to give us a boost of energy!

I snapped a pic of my partner.  So she got one of me too...

Not my best side...lol

The pictures sorta stopped once we started getting rained on in the last 3 miles.

Running in for the big finish...no more rain!

Locked arms...and crying!  I can't believe we did it!!!

During the race, Tia and I had decided that finishing this race was probably the 2nd biggest thing that either of us had ever done in our lives.  Aside from Tia having her little girl, and my getting married to the man of my dreams...neither of us graduated from college or went to boot camp...but we DID finish a HALF MARATHON!!!

I never knew I could love a piece of metal SO much!

The feeling was indescribable!!!

 We had a big support crowd that day.  Our cousin Alan and his wife Sadie, with their kids, Evan and Olivia were there.  Our grandparents were there...we were both surprised that our grandpa showed up!  Something neither of us expected.  Tia's parents, sister, and daughter were there; as well as my mother, sister, and husband.  Everyone wore red..which helped us pick them out long before we could even see their faces. 

 Thanks to all of you!  Each time we saw you, it gave us a much needed energy boost!

Prior to the race, we had come up with a game plan.  We had decided to go with the following:
1.  Set our interval pace at 1:05/2:30 walk/jog
2.  We will follow the pack from the start line and then fall into the intervals once the crowd thins out.
3.  Walk through water stations
4.  We are only allowed to walk through 2 intervals if needed...and only after mile 5.
5.  Baby jog the entire baseball field at the finish
6.  High five's at miles 2,4,6,8,10, and 12.
7.  Eat BLOKS at mile 3,6,9, and 11 if needed
8.  April's beeper will be set to intervals, Tia's to stop watch
9.  Our goal is to finish with a 16 min/mile at best...really just want to finish under 4 hours.


Did it work?  Well....yes and no.

At the 5 mile mark, we were doing 14:47!!!  A pace we have NEVER kept.  By mile 10, we were holding a 14:58 min/mile pace!!! WOW!!!  Tia was convinced that I'd been holding out on her. lol  Not likely.  I was definitely pushing myself to the max.  I wanted this...I wanted to finish with a good time...not just for me..but for my partner that I usually hold back.  We picked two ladies out of the sea of blue shirts (one girl was wearing pink and the other white).  We agreed to try to keep pace with these girls after we caught up with them for the 6th time.  That's when we decided we might as well get to know them as well.  We came to know them as the "A team".  Around mile 9 or so..I was feeling it.  I couldn't keep up with Tia on the runs, so I broke a rule.  I started running through our walking intervals..but it was just baby jogs.  I figured if I could keep up a slow and steady jog, then Tia could catch up with me.  Yes, I was doing more work..but it was helping us keep up our time.  I didn't always walk through the water stations like we had planned since I was dragging us behind.  Tia usually caught up with me after she had her cup of water.  I couldn't do the BLOKS like we were supposed to.  I didn't something new (which you aren't really supposed to do on race day).  I tried eating pretzels.  Yeah, it was dry and hard to eat while running and out of breath, but they expanded in my stomach and made me feel like something was in there and kept the water from sloshing around.  I probably only ate 3 or 4 pretzels..but it did the trick.  By mile 10 or 11, I was pooped.  We didn't walk through any intervals until just before we entered the stadium.  We had planned to start running at the 13 mile marker since it was a long way to run from the entrance all the way to the finish.  BUT...when we saw it..we just took off.  I started crying..I just couldn't believe that we had done it..it was over...we'd accomplished something together that was sooo huge for us!  Just before the finish, we crossed arms and ran across the finish line together..arm in arm.  We hugged and then Tia grabbed my arm and said "Let's go get our medals!"  I was GAME for THAT!!  We'd earned it!!  22 weeks of training filled with tears, sweat, and blood!  By golly we earned those medals!!  I really can't describe the joy that filled us...we were just so happy!

We crossed the finish line with a final time of 3:17:31!!!  A 15:05 min/mile pace!  We totally SMOKED our goal!!!
So...to conclude our race re-cap...here's a question that many have been asking.
"Will you guys continue to run?"

HECK YES!!!  We plan to continue to run and return to training for our next half marathon next year!  No idea which one at this time, but our journey will continue.  :D