Winslow Half (how I got here)

If you told me a year ago that I would run a half marathon, I wouldn't have believed it.
I barely finished a 5k last November with Halle and I thought it was rough. I'll give you a brief overview how I got here. Back in January I joined a 12 week healthy habits challenge with some ladies in the area. It included fitness habits and, being the competitive person that I am, I wanted to win it. I barely ever missed a day and it really helped me to get into better shape. I was exercising 6 days a week and felt great. I was mostly doing videos at home but then I started to do an occasional run because I wanted to do an upcoming 5k with some friends from church. I never ran more than three or so miles leading up to that day.

At the end of April I ran a 5k with some ladies from church. There was a girl named Marci who was new to the area and we ended up running together in the race. She was a runner and I really wanted to stay up with her so I pushed hard and got my fastest time ever, finishing at 28:31. She thought we were a good match and suggested we start running together. She pushed me all spring/summer to run farther than I ever had before. She would just encourage me and say, "If you can do 4, you can do 5", etc. On July 4th she suggested we start off our day by running 10 miles. I really didn't think I had it in me but we did it. We actually even ended up running 11! The sense of accomplishment was huge. I had no idea there was a runner inside me.

After running 11 miles, I had the courage to sign up for a half marathon. I wanted to find one locally that I would have time to train for. In my search, I found one about an hour south in Winslow, Arkansas in mid-September. I'm a sucker for beautiful scenery and this small town is nestled right in the Boston Mountains not far from Devil's Den State Park. I knew it would be picturesque so I took the bait and signed up. I've never been one to exercise while on vacation but knowing that I had this race looming in the near future kept me motivated. I loved running in all the places we visited this summer: Denver, CO, Southern Utah, Highland, UT and Island Park, Idaho just outside of Yellowstone.





I could feel myself becoming a runner as I looked forward to my next morning run and how great I felt afterward. I also really loved running with Ryan, as he became my weekday running partner. It was really nice doing something active like that together.


As the race day drew nearer, Marci and I decided we should head down to Winslow and check out the course we would be running. I don't know if that was a good idea or not but what's done is done. We saw that the course was full of hills and half of it was on a rocky, dirt road. Truthfully, it really scared me. I didn't know if I had it in me to run all those hills.



My nervousness grew as race day approached. I was nervous about so many things. Would I hold Marci back? I knew she was too nice to run on ahead without me. Had I been eating well enough to sustain me? Would I be able to run all those hills? What if I had to go to the bathroom? I knew there was no turning back and I had to just do my best.

The morning of the race I was nervous but excited. Ryan assured me that I would do great. He and the kids were planning to be there at the finish line and I was really happy about that. I really wanted to show my girls, especially, that they can do anything they make up their mind to do. Marci and I arrived in Winslow, following a truck carrying some port-a-potties for the race. We had a good laugh about that. After a quick stop at a gas station restroom, finding parking, picking up our race number and another last-minute bathroom stop, we only had about 3 minutes before the race began. In hindsight, it was probably good to not have too much time to get anxious.


The race began and we were off. The first 2 miles were really hard for me. It always takes me until somewhere in mile 2 to reach my runner's high and there were several hills to climb before I got there. It was a struggle. Mentally, I was really worried and wondered what I had gotten myself into. I was worried I wouldn't be able to finish the race. The night before I had downloaded some new songs onto my running playlist and the new music really helped. Somewhere before mile 3, my runner's high kicked in and I was so happy. The hills were still very discouraging, though. Every time we had a downhill I kept thinking that I should enjoy it, but all I could think about was how hard it was going to be on the way back when I was exhausted and had to climb back up it. It was beautiful scenery for the most part and the road was thankfully shaded a good portion of the way by big trees on either side. I was trying hard to keep a steady pace and not slow Marci down. She stayed just an arm's length ahead of me for most of the race. Just after mile three, we left the pavement and hit the dirt road. I have mixed feelings about the dirt. In some places it wasn't bad and it was softer to run on than the pavement. In others, it was hard and rutted and full of rocks and I had to be careful with each step. I had to keep changing positions to find the best spot in the road to run. We high-fived at each mile we completed and finally we were at the half-way point. It was so nice to know we were half-way there. I knew I would be more tired the second half but I was also hoping the adrenaline of the impending finish line would help. I had stashed some energy beans in a small pants pocket and downed them at the turnaround. The hills on the way back were even harder. Some were so steep that people were criss-crossing down them to slow their descent. There were three hills that we had to do some walking up. They were too steep and our muscles were just too tired. Other than that, we never stopped running except for a quick drink of water at the aid stations. At mile 11, Marci needed a pep talk and it was nice to be able to encourage her like she had done for me all summer. My goals for the race were to run the whole thing and finish with an average of 11 minutes/mile or lower. For my first half marathon, I felt really good about it. The last mile was a very steep downhill to the finish line. It was my favorite mile by far and one of our fastest of the whole race. Crossing that finish line felt amazing. We had done it. I had run my first half marathon and survived. I finished just around 2 hours and 24 minutes.


It was awesome having the whole family there at the finish line. It was so great to see them and have them there cheering me on. I'm definitely going to encourage all my kids to run because of how much I have grown to love it.


My running buddy, Marci, has run several half marathons and said this was her most difficult by far. Ryan said he also heard several sponsored runners at the finish say it was the hardest half course they have run as well. I'm not sure if it was the best one for a first-timer but hopefully, every race should be easier after this. It may have been my first but it is definitely not my last. I'm glad I can say I "ran with the squirrels" in Winslow.