I DID IT!!

I can hardly believe it, but I DID it. I finished a half marathon and I never stopped running ONCE (though I did slow down to put icy hot on both legs).

Disclaimer: It's neither here nor there that I ran so slow that many fast walkers could probably have overtaken me. I. NEVER. STOPPED. RUNNING.

I finished in 2 hours and 40 minutes. And OOOooooh, I got a shiny, pretty medal! It hangs on the lamp right beside my computer in the office. It is a reminder of just how much I can endure...and what I can do if I put my mind to it.

My two children are a reminder of that as well...you know, the whole childbirth thing. YES, I'm comparing a half marathon to childbirth. Truthfully, I knew that I wouldn't DIE during the half marathon, I just sort of wanted someone to kill me. On the other hand, during childbirth I truly DID think that I might die, AND simultaneously I wanted someone to kill me. Also, I wanted someone to kill my husband. And one of the nurses. Anyone can see the similarities.

If you can look past a few hours of suffering (and a 3 am wake up call), the Disney Half Marathon might be the most fun race out there. There was non-stop entertainment from start to finish, not to mention the ridiculous costumes. I think I was the only person wearing regular old running clothes....I was too scared to wear ANYTHING bizarre, knowing that it would probably irritate me by mile two and I'd end up crossing the finish line naked.

You can see some good shots of the race from start to finish here...though I will say these particular photos give the impression that it was a spacious race. Let me tell you, it was NOT. There were 11,000 runners there. And for much of the race it seemed as if all 11,000 had elected to wear giant fairy wings in order to poke me in the neck continuously as I suffered. Ugh.

I'm still recovering...and already thinking about next year's race!!