My marathon journey

So I completed another wonderful activity by running in the First ever Cincinnati Half Marathon on October 23, 2010. How awesome is that :) Let me recreate this journey.

I started running with the Running Spot in July with the goal of running in the Oxford Marathon September 26. Ann and I joined this club totally afraid and wondering what did we get ourselves into. I never thought that I would be able to run but I raced with my running group which was HARD. I used to hard core run on the treadmill but taking that to the outdoors is difficult. As time went on during my training, running on the treadmill got boring and all I craved was to run outdoors. During my running my right ankle would hurt but after running a certain distance the pain would go away (apparently that was my endorphins kicking in). But one morning, August13, I decided to run up Dixie Highway for a total of 11 miles. It took my 2:45 minutes. I was proud of myself and felt good about myself and my upcoming race.

The downside is that after that run, my right ankle began to hurt constantly. Nothing I could do would help the pain. I stopped running for weeks which turned into months. I went to a clinic and was informed that I should not take part in the Oxford Marathon. I cried and came to grips with the fact that I can't run. I spoke to Caleb and Danae and felt better and in time decided to do the Cincinnati Half. I decided that doing the Cincinnati half would be the best thing to do because it was the first ever for Cincinnati, close to my home, and the course was advertised as being flat.

I registered for this race, Danae registered and I decided that I needed to train again. Too bad that I decided to train 2 weeks before the race. The cool thing I kept telling myself is that I ran 11 miles before, I can do it again.


Race day 10/23/10 went off well. Caleb, Matt and Doreen saw Danae and I off. Around mile 3, Maggie was on 5th Street cheering me on, I saw Doreen around mile 5, I saw Joe my coach around mile 8 and at the finish line I saw Maggie and Ann cheering me on with a completion time of 2:53. I could not believe it. I did the race that fast, under 3 hours. I felt so amazing and I pushed myself but not too hard. I met up with the rest of my friends 20 minutes later or so. I felt so accomplished and the thought in my head was that I will never run a half again, but then again I decided that maybe every year I will take part in the Cincinnati half. I don't know, it is too early and I am in too much pain to commit.

Danae ended up finishing too, so proud of her and every step of the way she had a smile on her face and tunes on her iPod. After taking pictures and coming down from the great high, we all left the area. We had a celebratory 22 oz of Woodchuck and Caleb took me to Zip's for the best burger ever and dessert at Aglamesis Brothers. It is amazing how great the day was and how far I have come to make this journey. It was a great end to the perfect day.