I’m Only Half Crazy

Last week,  I ran my 4th half marathon. It’s been over 4 years since I ran my last. If you had asked me at the beginning of this year if I thought I would end up running a half, I would have told you no way. I still can not believe I did it.

The beginning of a race is always somewhat emotional for me. I’ve always teared up at the start line while waiting for the gun to go off. Its a mix of all kind of emotions. Excitement, pride and a little bit of fear. But I had to fight a lot harder this time to hold back the tears. I have always run races by myself. From 5k to full marathon. I’ve trained, run and finished alone. Never even had any friends or family waiting for me at the finish. It has never been on purpose but its just always happened that family and friends couldn’t be there. I did not think it was going to be a big deal but I missed him more than ever. I wished so hard to have him there. But at the same time, I was so proud of myself for having the courage to do this alone.

Of all of the races I have done, this race was by far the most challenging one. From 95 degree heat to the actual course itself. We were warned that the course would be difficult and include numerous hills, both steep and long and let me tell you, they weren’t lying.  Even on a flat course, a half is tough. But I choose this one because it made something hard even hard. Theres something so special and gratifying about pushing yourself further than you think you can go. This race broke me down. I wanted to quite countless times but I just kept putting one foot in front of the other and focusing on finishing the mile I was on.

Let me tell you, these challenges made crossing the finish line all the more rewarding. To date, this was the hardest but most satisfying half yet. We will see what else fitness/race wise this year brings. Hopefully my next race, I’ll get to have my husband there.