I came. I ran. I conquered.

And by conquer, I use that term loosely. 15 weeks of training. Lots of miles. Lots of sweat. And maybe the loss of a toenail after the race. Yes friends, that really happened. When you run as much as I did, and then put in 13 miles, your feet get TORN UP. But that's okay. Nothing some nail vitamins can't fix.

Let's start with the morning of. I got up at 5AM because I wanted to make sure that I could get in a good breakfast and still have enough time for it to settle before race time. I had some scrambled eggs, whole wheat english muffin with peanut butter, and some coffee. I did not want to stray away from my normal routine that I had been using while training. [Note to any new runners: Never try to do anything new on race day. This includes your shoes/what you wear. You have a routine/habit...keep it that way.]

I got dressed and was just anxious. I paced around, and I laid back down in bed and scrolled through Snapchat to just take my mind off it. It was finally time to leave and my dad drove us to the start line which was at Kidd Brewer Stadium at App State. The whole time he was talking about food on the way, and I had to ask him to stop because I legit felt SICK. I don't know what it is about me but any big event I get nervous/sick. Call me a wimp. I wasn't nervous about the running part at all. Just the event itself. If that makes sense?

So we get out of the car, and I am legit choking back tears. Y'all, I can't even lie about this. When I say I am a wimp, I am. HAHA! We walk into the stadium and Brian is calm cool and collected...at least from what I can see. He starts to put on his arm band & get situated & what happens to me? Tears are rolling down my face. I am laughing writing this because I don't know what came over me.

We walk up to use the bathroom one more time & he made me eat a couple bites of banana even though I wanted to vomit all due from my nerves. We warmed up around the track for a lap and then saw Alison's dad. Once we started talking to him, I was ok. The nerves went away & I was ready to go.

We started the race and it was great. It was hilly mountainous but it was FUN! Mile 6-7 was all downhill and I got some serious pace on that mile. The weather was perfect. It was not hot at all. THANK YOU LORD! Slightly muggy in some parts but it was FABULOUS. I had a great time.

We hit the last mile and guess what started to happen? If you guessed more crying, you are CORRECT. I ugly cried my way across the finish line and ran straight to my Daddy. Are you noticing a trend here from past posts? HAHA! It was really emotional for me because a half marathon was something I did not think I could ever do and I did it. I put in a lot of miles to get there and it all coming to an end was just awesome. I did that race SOLELY for me.

My parents and grandparents were there along with 2 of my girlfriends! SHOUT OUT to Rach & Alison. And my other SNEAKY girlfriends had all sent cards to my parents' house along with a care package that I got before the race. You ladies rock.

B had finished before me and he was right there! It was great and I was happy that I did it. Lauren already asked me if I would do another...and the answer is yes...most definitely yes. The training I put in totally prepared me for it. My goal is to finish under 2:32 next time. And yes, I have already started looking at races for the end of the year...just not half way across the country.

So there is my recap of the race...I finished and I cried. I can't stop laughing about it. Maybe next time I won't be so emotional??

Happy Monday everyone!

xoxo,
Haley