Suggested by: Eliza H.
Completed: 10/10/11
Completed: 10/10/11
I've run a 5k, a 5 miler, a 10k, an 8.4 miler, and a 10 mile race. But I never really considered running a half marathon, until my dad set his mind to training for one. I mean, if he can do it, I can do it. And, with his recent heart issues, I didn't want him to be training alone, so I thought I should be around to supervise. He picked the Towpath half marathon in the beautiful and scenic Cuyahoga Valley National Park. We did plenty of short runs during the week and dad loved getting in Sunday morning 9 mile long runs in preparation for the big day. The temperature was a cool 58 degrees for the 8am start. We began with 3 miles of pavement followed by 10 miles of a winding scenic trail. I felt great for the first ten miles (stopping for short walks after mile 2, 4, 6 and 8) and then seemed to really hit a wall, my calves got tight, my stomach was killing me and I was so thirsty. But despite the fact that they were harder, the last 3 miles still seemed to go pretty quickly and overall I was very happy with my time (and to have finished!). As I got about .10 miles away from the finish line I heard mom's notorious whistle and instantly found her in the giant crowd, along with Leo, Carolyn, Paul and Nathan. It was nice to see some friendly faces after the exhaustion and stomach pains set in. And now that I have my first half marathon under my belt, there is only one thing to do - pick the next half marathon so that I can beat my first half marathon's time. I'll leave that up to dad.
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