And did absolutely 0 training leading up to it. That was not smart. Kids, if you’re going to run a half marathon then GET OFF YOUR BUTT AND RUN MORE THAN 6 MILES CONSISTENTLY BEFOREHAND OKAY?!?!
My friend Eva did it with me. Well, she was supposed to. Turns out she diverted to the 10K route because of shin splints. If I had shin splints I would have stopped one of the many medics running and been like “I need a vehicle this fucking hurts”. Except that they probably don’t speak English very well and I don’t know how to say that all in Korean so there would have been a bunch of hand motions and pained looks.
Actually, there was a 4.2k route. I probably would have just done that.
Anyway, we met outside at 0520, hopped on a bus at 0550 and arrived at the race site around 0730 with an hour and a half to spare before race time.
Let me tell you…these people really care about their races! There was a ginormous stretch sesh that started about 20 minutes before the race and almost everyone participated! They sent us UNIFORMS to wear (the neckline of the shirt was extremely high and uncomfortable so I wore my own clothing) and the shorts have POCKETS. There were a bunch of fireworks, and they released a shit ton of balloons at the start of the half marathon. It was awesome. I’ll put a picture.
The first 10k went great! I was at about an 8 minute mile average! Hell YEAH! And then around 12k I…faltered. At 14k the 2 hour time group passed me and right before 15k I started walking up the hills.
Thankfully at the 15k marker there was chocolate. It was delicious and kept me going for the next 2-3k.
A half marathon is almost 22k. I finished in 2 hours and 15 minutes. I really wanted that 2 hours but I’m okay with not getting it considering I thought I was going to die by the time I crossed the freaking finish line.
It was so hot guys. So. Hot.
There were sponges every few miles so you could squeeze water on yourself and there were water stations every 2km but JEEZ WAS IT HOT.
But I finished and I’m alive. And at the end instead of bagels and bananas and oranges they give you these mini pancake things with red beans inside. It’s super sweet and carb loaded and I was so hungry.
I’m still hungry.
I’ve been drinking wine for the last hour to try and numb the pain in my legs a bit. I’m so sore and I have blisters on both feet. I think it’s my shoes. This has happened before. Those shoes need to go. Maybe I’ll find new ones when I’M AT HOME IN 6 DAYS.
I can’t wait to go home.
Tomorrow we’re doing a Spartan Sprint! 3-5 miles with 15+ obstacles. I hope I’m able to move by then. We leave at 0630.
astepclosertoperfection 