I ran a half marathon!

Not to brag or anything, but…

 

I RAN A HALF MARATHON YESTERDAY!!!!

Okay, okay. So maybe I’m bragging a little. But if we aren’t proud of our own accomplishments, then who is going to be?

Yesterday morning I had my mind set on running. I knew there would be snow, I knew there would be wind, and I knew it would be cold. You’ve heard me say many times before that I would (and have) chosen the treadmill over bad weather anytime. But after one too many treadmill long-runs, I kind of felt like a fake. I mean come on, everyone else is out there braving the elements, and I’m just jogging along on a treadmill in the gym? No more.

I could have waiting until the afternoon when it had warmed up a smidge, but I like to get my runs over in the morning. I also could have waited until Sunday, when the temps were supposed to reach 47, but I had set my mind to accomplishing this and I wasn’t going to make any more excuses.

I knew I could do it. I just wanted to prove it to myself.

I started off my morning with the pre-run fuel I used on last week’s 12 miler: a slice of Udi’s bread with 1 T of peanut butter and half a banana. Deeeelicious. I was out the door 40 minutes later, all geared up and ready to go.

Yes, I look like a tard. But I’m okay with that. I had my CW-X running tights, a t-shirt, a long-sleeve t-shirt and a nike pull over. On my head I wore an ear band AND a hat (the hat doesn’t completely cover my ears) and I also wore some waterproof gloves and put hand warmers in them!

Another fun thing? I got these great new socks from TJ Maxx:

I’ve never bought real running socks before, and these were AMAZING! I totally understand spending a little more (granted, these were about $7 for 3 pairs…. which isn’t actually more than a lot of normal socks). I also had on my new Camelbak pack and brought along a new fuel I found called Sharkies:

These were actually pretty tasty! The whole package is 140 calories, and I started to reward myself by eating one every mile after a while (I started out by eating about 3 at 45 minutes in). However, I didn’t realize how many were in there! I had them stuffed in the inside pocket of my tights, and since my hands were so numb they were hard to pull out. I thought I’d about finished them, but by the time I got back I still had half of them left! They are either super amazing (my last run I needed at least 100 calories) or I was just so focused on braving the elements that I didn’t realize I felt tired at all.

Once I headed outside for my run I was immediately greeted by the one thing that I did not plan for: Slush. I had to tip toe my way through a back alley and a parking lot to get to the street and start my run, and didn’t realize that wouldn’t be the last of it! There was slush EVERYWHERE! I was hoping it was cold enough that the snow wouldn’t melt, but it was 33 degrees when I was running… plus all the foot traffic and cars resulted in some serious slushy puddles during my run. Let’s just say both my feet were soaking wet by 3 miles in…

Although it was windy, cold and wet, there was one great thing about my run (when I managed to look up), it was GORGEOUS. The first part of my run took me near the Lincoln Park Zoo and it was so pretty I had to take a picture:

Then, during the last 3 miles of my run, it started to snow a light and fluffy snow. It was so beautiful that it made me grin and power through those last miles!

My final time was 2:11:50 for a pace of 10:03 min/mile. Definitely slower than my previous times, but that’s expected when you have to stop and find a way to get around giant slush puddles for a good bit of your run!

I had a serious runner’s high when I got home and was so excited about my run! I still can’t believe that I technically ran a half marathon. It just seems so unreal! I feel like I need another person there with me or something and then I’ll really believe it.

 

Have you ever done something but just can’t really believe it happened?

 

How do you feel about snow? Love it or hate it?