I did it!!!!!!

I ran my first 1/2 Marathon!!!!!! Yes, I said first- I plan to do it again. I have the running bug big time. I am loving it!

I signed up for the San Diego Rock & Roll 1/2 marathon back in January. I had gotten to my goal of running a 5k (the Oceanside Turkey Trot on Thanksgiving morning) and decided that I needed new goal.

My college roomies and I plan a get together every summer- every year since graduation (um, is that 6 years now??? I'm feeling old......). I lucked out that all of them are also doing the running thing and they agreed to run the 1/2 with me! I was going to be the only 1/2 marathon virgin going in to it, and they were all nice enough to agree to run my pace so I could actually finish it!

Dani & Amelia arrived Friday night (Julia had to pull out last minute. We missed her mucho!) Right away I was laughing so hard I almost peed my pants. Man, I love my college roomies.

We just chilled Saturday morning, and drank a ton of water. We left my house around 2 to head down to SD.

We checked into a fancy smancy hotel, Westgate hotel in Down town San Diego. FANCY. Like, too fancy for us rowdy girls. But we enjoyed- check out the view! And look Hammer, no marine layer!

We headed to the Expo to sign in and get our gear. Did a little shopping and browsing, then headed to Sammy's Woodfire Grill to carb up! I was able to get a gluten free, dairy free pizza there. And it tasted fabulous.

Walked back to the hotel, goofed around in our fancy hotel robes, and prepped for the next day.

We were asleep by 9:30 at the latest- we had to get up at 4:30 am for this dang race!!!!!! But we did it without grumbling, blasted some music and got ready!

We all ate our little breakfasts- mine was gluten free toast w/pb and 1/2 a banana. Then we walked to the start line- a nice little mile walk warm up. There were sooooooo many racers out walking around!

We managed to all get into coral 19 together. We decided to skip the porta potties, cause man- they stunk. And the lines were insane.

The energy was awesome, I loved seeing everyone that was racing. People from all over the country! Its so awesome to see how runners come in different shapes & sizes, and different levels of seriousness. So many silly costumes, and also some hard core runners!

I believe it was 30,000 runners. Thats insane. Dude, we even got to run on the 163 (thats the freeway for any non-locals reading)

We keep our pace up, only stopped for a quick pee break right before mile 8. Right after that we were cheered on by Steve, Jessica and Izzy. That seriously made my run- seeing them gave me the energy to finish the race, and I was so happy that they came to cheer me on! (They couldn't meet us at the finish line because it was too hard to get to with 2 young kiddos)

Check me out- I was smiling, must be having fun!

Mile 12 was the only mile that was really hard on me, and I think it was because we decided to pick up the pace AND I just wanted to be done! In my head (and, I won't lie, occasionally out oud, too) I started to give myself this pep talk "you pushed out a almost 10 pound baby WITH OUT DRUGS. You can run one more damn mile." My friend Amelia ran right next to me and kept saying encouraging words to me, and that helped me get that crazy jolt of energy that made me sprint across the finish line

(I love that I look like possesed in that picture)

I finished!!!!! And I immediately burst into tears.

Because thats how I roll

Finished in 2 hours, 22 minutes and 9 seconds. About a 10:50 mile pace. Pretty proud of myself considering I have only been running less than a year :)

We had to stop and take goofy pictures afterwards. Love my neon pink face.

This one was for Julia. We are good flexers. :)

Making fun of the crazy subleasing roomate we had one summer. Cause we're mature like that.

After we made it back to the hotel and showered up, we headed off to get some much deserved lunch

Mexican food and Margaritas!!!!!!!

I had an amazing time, and it was made even better by my friends doing it with me. I cannot get over how amazing the human body is- dude, running for 2 hours + strait, and still having energy for the rest of the day? Crazy!

I plan on doing more 1/2's, and maybe even a full one day???? And I really hope to do more with my college roomies. Julia, you must be with us next time!