13.1 - and done

I did it.

It took me a shade over two and one-half hours (which was my "medium" goal). I wasn't dead last (much to my surprise). I was still able to walk afterwards (although that happy state may not last).

And when I got home, Chad had my ice bath (yikes!) all ready for me, as well as lunch (Halelujah!) already cooking.

So, to give credit where credit is due: My faithful training partner, who had stayed with me through early mornings, long runs, and faster-than-agreed-on paces, stayed in bed this morning. Actually, I told him to; he has a rotation today and he didn't need to go all the way out to sit around for that long with just a couple of glimpses of me along the way. Anyway, I couldn't have done it without you, my dear husband.

I couldn't find my gloves or my headband when frantically searching the house at 8:10 AM (I had planned to leave at 8). I gave it up and hoped that it would warm up quickly, but I was saved from frozen fingers by my running pal Tammy, who loaned me her gloves. Fun gloves. They had Scooby-Doo on them.

And, finally, I don't know if I've mentioned our friends Shannon & Wendy before, but they were among the first people we met when we first started attending South Plains. Turns out they are runners, too. They were both at the race today, and both of them cheered for me when I passed them. Wendy ran the 2-mile race, and while I didn't see her, I knew that she had passed me because she was screaming "Go Susan!!" Shannon didn't shout quite so loudly, but he was standing at the finish, and provided an extremely-needed boost as I ran up the hill and crossed the line. And then afterward, he was very complimentary about my running progress before encouraging me to stretch a lot. And I took his advice, because the last time I ignored something he said about running, I was very very sorry.

So! I can now truthfully say that I am a half-marathoner. Next up: Austin, February 15th.