I Ran a Half Marathon!!

My first big race was on Sunday and still I... A) can't believe I did it and felt great and smiled the whole time! B) am totally on runner's high! I ran the Other Half in Moab with Dad, Lisa, Sara, Cristin, and Alli. Here we are at the start, all smiles, albeit a titch nervous... (Well, maybe not Lisa. A 13 mile run is a walk in the park for a woman who does Iron Mans.)I should clarify that by "ran with," I mean, "ran behind." I was the last one of our group over the finish line at 2 hours 55 minutes, but...eh...I accomplished what I set out to do, which was run every step of 13.1 miles, and hopefully have some fun doing it. The course was beautiful, the weather was perfect, and having always loved the energy at a race, I can now say for certain its even better when you're one of the participants!

I'll admit, I got really scared when I got to my first hill, but after stopping super quick for a photo, I told myself, "Jessica, you're more than halfway done, you still feel amazing, and you can totally do this!"So I did. I ran up this hill (that's mile marker 7 halfway up) and passed four other runners in the process. And I ran up every hill that came after it. I even giggled when I got to the top of the hill at mile 8 and heard some girls asking the gatorade guy, "That was the worst part, right?" Come on girls, this run is cake!

I was greeted by some drummers at mile 11-ish and was so excited! At that point I'd run further than I've run EVER, the sun was shining, I only had two more easy, downhill miles to go, and I could see the ranch where the finish line and free beer were waiting for me.
I was greeted at the finish line by the aforementioned friends who ran "with" me and helped me accomplish this HUGE goal in the first place, a cute and teary-eyed ever so proud Mommy, and a jumping and screaming self-described athletic supporter, Travis. I could NOT believe how great I felt! Sure, I was hobbling. But I was also laughing and smiling and drinking free beer to celebrate that fact that I RAN A HALF MARATHON!!!!

Thanks SO SO much Dad and Mommy Lisa and Poloni Sandwich and Nurse Kimball and Alli Tanner. I'm so proud of all of us, and would NEVER have done this without you! Let's do it again!