I should write a book entitled, “Half-marathons For Dummies” and submit it to the series of  “for dummies” books.

I know it makes more sense to run a few 5Ks or 10Ks first, but it IS possible to jump right into a half marathon. No, I did not train the best that I could. No, I am not in tiptop physical shape. No, I do not {enjoy} running. But I finished my first half marathon. That was my goal ~ to simply FINISH. Get that medal. And not be the LAST one across the finish line. It’s doable and I highly recommend it.

Once my body recovers, I’ll look into my next challenge. But right now I am hurting. My toenails hurt. My lower back hurts. I have a blister on the side of my left foot. One toenail dug into it’s neighboring toe on my right foot. But I feel {good}. The black cloud that was this half marathon hanging over my head for the past few weeks has lifted. I can now celebrate the holidays carefree. I have been given an early Christmas gift in the form of a medal on a red ribbon.

I cannot believe that it was a year ago when I committed to this venture. You can read about it here.

As we drove into Vegas, I became a little anxious. We picked up my bib and I immediately noticed that the participants came in all shapes and sizes. Not everyone was your typical marathon runner look alike. I immediately became less intimidated and just kept telling myself…”you can do this”.

We got back to the room after our Buca di Beppo dinner and I pinned my bib on my shirt and attached the timing tag to my shoe. In less than 10 hours it was show time and there was NO turning back.

I awoke several times during the night. Afraid I was going to miss the wake-up call. I got up around 5am and had a banana and half a Luna bar. I drank some water and tried to hit that fine line of being hydrated enough but not too much that I had to use the dreaded port-a-potty!

Jay and I left the room around 6am and began the mile walk to Mandalay Bay. I checked in my bag and stood in line for the potties {darn it!}. I was in corral 22 so that meant I had some extra time. I would start the race about 30 minutes after the official start. This is done to alleviate too many bodies going out at once. {the chip on my shoe registers the time I cross the starting line and the finish line ~ not the official clock time}

Here I am in my corral:

The first several miles were fine. I pared down my playlist the night before and just had the {good stuff} ~ Katy & Snoop, Lady Gaga, Pink, Usher, Taio Cruz, Bruno Mars.

There were some awesome signs and posters along the way…

“Keep running…there’s FREE BEER at the finish line!”

“Your feet hurt because you’re kicking so much ass!”

“Run like Tiger’s wife is chasing you!”

“In my eyes, you’re all Kenyan!”

There were lots of high fives with high school cheerleaders.

All these things were little boosts.

Once we left the strip, we soon entered the downtown area and it was quite evident…$40/night hotels, increased Police presence and instead of Cytomax and water, there was beer being handed out courtesy of a seedy little hole in the wall. I kid you not…there was a homeless looking {gentleman} that pulled out a table and a tray with clear plastic cups filled half way with a dark beer. I thought that was awesome, but declined as I still had 7 miles to go!

I made it to about 8 miles and my feet began to feel it. I started walking and figured I could walk faster than I was shuffling along! At that point I was amongst a lot of walkers and wasn’t going to kid myself that I could shuffle along for the next 5 miles. I just power walked and enjoyed it. Kind of like when you finally cave in and get an epidural after being in labor…the pain is gone and now you can relax and enjoy your labor.

Even though I kept to myself and listened to my iPod, I felt connected with the others on the course. We were just plugging away…all trying to get to the same place…one step at a time.

My mom and my babies waiting to cheer me on:

Here I am at about the 12 mile mark:

And here I am with an ice cold MGD 64 at the end!

*****

It was an AMAZING experience.

I’m glad it’s over, but I’m excited to see what I do next.

I simply cannot explain what it feels like to be out there amongst 28,000 other athletes and FINISH what I started.

If it feels this good to finish a half, I CANNOT imagine the feeling of finishing a full marathon.

May I encourage you to think about doing this race next year? It is not at all intimidating. It’s casual. It’s flat! It’s a blast. Or, if you live elsewhere and Vegas isn’t an option, check your area for other half marathons throughout the year ~ there are lots.

THANK YOU for ALL your encouragement and cheerleading along this journey. I drew from all your support along the way and it certainly helped get me to the end. But the journey isn’t over….it’s just beginning.

Ask Santa for a pair of running shoes for Christmas.

You will LOVE what they can do for you.