The Marenthon

Well folks, I ran a half marathon. Crazy? Yes. Believe me, I went 25.5 years without the teeniest desire to ever run more than a mile at a time. You should have seen me in high school when we had to run a mile under a certain amount of time in order to receive our athletic clothes for the year....not pretty, nor was I happy. Don't get me wrong, I work out. Spin class, boot camp, yoga (albeit not obsessively consistent in the least). However, I have NEVER been a runner. Running was the part I hated about every other kind of exercise. Running to warm up, running drills in practice, running a mile before boot camp even starts.... All these things made me so upset. I mean, running is a workout on its own....right? Why would I want to run and then do a full workout, that's just crazy talk. My friend Amy ran a marathon in San Diego. I went to watch, and even ran a mile with her towards the end. It was exciting and she was so happy after she finished, but I had no desire to ever share that feeling.

Fast forward to six months ago when my good friend Holly said she joined a training group and had decided to run the Austin Half Marathon. What?!? We used to walk together all the time at Town Lake and maybe ran for 30 seconds at a time. I told her she was out of her mind, and that I would never ever ever ever do that. But then I thought....it would be a goal to train for and something big to achieve. Especially at a time like this when I don't know where I'm headed career-wise, and don't have too much else going on. So I went for it. Joined the training group (which eventually ended up just myself and 2 good friends), and let our poor coach try and form me into a "runner". I will spare you the details, but I was definitely not the star pupil. I did, however, show up and try really hard!

Then it was here, Valentine's Day 2010....the Austin Marathon. Holly didn't sign up in time (cause she didn't really want to do it?), and my other friend had decided early on in our training that she was going to run the full (overachiever fo sho). So here I was, on my own, about to run 13.1 miles. The night before I felt so sick and was sure that I was never gonna make it, have an anxiety attack, or run (slowly) away. The morning of, I woke up so anxious I thought I was gonna puke. Somehow I made it downtown and waited with my friend at her pace marker (way faster than my own) until the race started. We stood around for about 10 minutes and then all the sudden the crowd (of like 10,000 people) shifted forward. I wasn't ready! So naturally, I cried....not really....just a little. It just startled me when it actually began.

Anyways, I did it! It was hard, but I had some AMAZING people all along the route (including #1 fan who met me at 3 different places with signs such as "nice legs hottie"). My mom and brother were there with signs and then met me at the finish. On the last mile, I did have to escape "Marathon Barbie". It was the hardest hill of the race, and this girl running next to me was causing male onlookers to blatantly stare, with jaws dropped. There was no way this girl was going to be anywhere near me when the camera went off at the finish line. The last thing I want is for every male that ever looks at that framed picture of me to ask who the girl next to me is....

So that, in a (long) nutshell was my half marathon experience. I'm very glad I did it, and proud of myself as well. Who knows, I may even do another one someday....

xoxo Maren