13.1: My First Half-Marathon

I did it. I rain my first half-marathon Saturday. (Okay, Runkeeper officially said 13.02, but I'm counting it.) I've trained for months for this. (I started in August.) I prayed to stay well. By God's grace, I ran. Praise Him!

The Details:

The race: Janis Best

The Course: Peavine + Iron King Trails

My fuel: Clif bar plus banana before, Nuun during, and a Clif shot of energy gel at 6.6 miles (halfway)

My time: I hoped to finish under 2 hours, but I ended with 2:03:37. I got to a 9:30 mile pace, though, and I was happy with that.

How it felt: Good until about mile 10 when my knees starting hurting (Ten miles is the longest I ran on my training plan). I pushed through and my knees hurt afterward until I stretched. Then just the left knee hurt. 

My Conclusions:

Will I run a half marathon again? Maybe. It depends on how this knee soreness goes, to be honest. Otherwise, I'd definitely say yes. Training is hard, but it gives rhythm and routine and structure to my life. And accomplishing this run today proved to me that I can do hard things, and that my entire life is not going to pot (as it has felt at times). God is good. Running is good. I hope God allows me to keep doing it.