In Berlin, Germany I ran 13.1 miles and this is how it went....

March 28th, 2010 in Berlin, Germany I ran 13.1 miles and this is how it went....

One of the best feelings in my life was crossing that finish line on Sunday. Not only because I was dying and ready to stop running 6K before, but it was the fact that I had just accomplished something that people only talk about doing, most never do, and few have finished feeling as I did...strong. 

Before I tell you about my half marathon experience I want to take a moment to recognize the 43 yr. old German participant that died 500m from the finish line that day. I don't know his name but I saw the scene and can only imagine what his family is going through. I send my support to them and wish them the best that's possible at such a hard time.

This half marathon was such an inspiration for me, it made me feel like "Yes I Can!" (no pun towards the Obama campaign intended there,) but seriously I now feel like anything I ever want to do or accomplish will probably seem like a piece of cake. I now understand why people strive for more runs and much longer runs, such as the marathon, the iron man, the centennial and all those ultra marathons. Its like OK how much farther can I now go? Well this chick is seriously the happiest girl alive at the moment I cant imagine what I will feel like after a marathon! So here goes, I will try my very best to fill in all the details of my first ever half marathon, the fun, the pain, the anguish, the struggle, the achievement, the hope, the relief, the excitement and the beer. I hope you have free time to read this cause it will by no means be a short one. 

POST RUN: There was one minor detail that I was not going to freak out about (visibly anyway) and that was day light savings time. I know that those of you in the US experienced this like 2 weeks ago but for us over here in Europe that wonderful time of year where we lose one hour of sleep happened at 4am Sunday March 28th, the day of the race. I was not too worried, but in all actuality I kept thinking it might cause a problem which of course it did. I wanted plenty of time for a post morning run, breakfast, relax/pump up time, and a chance to calm my nerves. So to me 6am seemed like a perfect time to wake up, giving me plenty of time to ease myself into the events of the day until race time at 10:45am. I was under the impression my phone would not change time on its own so I woke up at 5am thinking in my head that its now 6am. Well I asked reception what time it was since it was still dark outside and they said its only 5am and then continued to explain to me the point of daylight savings time. I went back to sleep.... (If you know me then you will understand I am early for everything, I have some weird fear of being late and so I was really forcing myself to go back to sleep and that the extra 2 hours of sleep would be needed. 

7am: I am up, dressed for a 20 minute, 2 mile run I planned out the day before. I stretched a ridiculous amount and then headed out the door. My morning started off with knee pain, like the kind of pain that is caused by a pinched nerve or a too cold and too sore muscle. It shot from my right knee down to my ankle. I thought great, awesome, this is wonderful. I tried to convince myself it was just the cold (and Berlin is a VERY cold place especially in March at 7am.) so I pushed through the warm up still nervous about what the heck I was going to do with this pain. I gave myself a massage, ate a banana, hard boiled egg, water and some free coffee (the women who owned the hostel loved that there was a "girl" running the half marathon staying at her hostel). I had also picked up some PowerBar energy gel things at the expo center the day before and downed one of those.  

Side note: I liked the energy gel and I really think it worked but since the directions were in german I am not sure if I did it right... I just ate it but maybe you should be mixing it with water? I dunno...

I also took 3 IBprophrins, this seemed to do that trick and thank god the pain stopped. We headed to the race which was super close to our hostel. The entire walk was like a crazy dream for me, my stomach had about a thousand butterflies in it while my head was like on over drive with reminding myself how to breathe, what my strategy was, how to prevent my knee from hurting, what my warm up was going to look like, not to fall, what music should I start with.... etc. I wont even try to explain how fast my heart was beating but lets just say it probably broke records. The race area was packed with people, over 27,000 contestants about 13,000 women runners. The weather was freezing, gushing wind and threatening to pour (which is did but in small amounts). I began my warm up and magically my knee was not hurting anymore, I might have the medicine to thank for the warm up but probably both. I did all kinds of jogs, skips, high knees, butt kicks, toy soldiers, stretches, more kicking, more stretching, for a good 20 minutes. I got in the ridiculously long line for the bathroom and right at 10:45am decided to jump the fence and enter the race pack!!! 2 minutes later a count down started, a gun went off, and the pack of 27,000 people started moving!! RACE TIME!

THE RUN: We started over by the Berlin Dome and ran at first down Unter den Linden street through the Brandenburg Gate. I knew from all my Running Buddies and their great advice that I needed to start out slow, don't try to get a head of everyone (although it was necessary to navigate oneself a bit through the crows). I was feeling wonderful, so much energy, no pain, I felt strong and ready to have a great race. Then it started to rain... It poured down rain for about 15 minutes but we all got soaked, and it was freezing... I really am surprised I did not catch cold.  So for the first 8-10K of the race I was feeling wonderful, enjoying all the scenery, all the monuments and plazas we got to pass by really motivated me to keep running, just KEEP RUNNING, it actually helped me focus on other things so running didn't seem like such a chore. I was determined to not only finish but finish strong and not only strong but without stopping, I would slow down to a jog but I refused to walk... refused!

I think that in refusing to walk it makes this experience so much more gratifying. Before I left for Berlin my boyfriend told me to make a list of goals, hide it, and look at it after the race. Well here it is....  

Finish 
Finish under 2:20:00
Finish Strong 
9 minute per mile pace
2 mile warm up/lots of stretching before and after
Stay head strong
Don't give up on the hills

I stuck this paper in my drawer at home and am looking at it now thinking... damn... I did good! The hardest part during the race was kilometer 13-19. Seriously dreaded each step, but didn't walk because I knew that all I needed to do was convince myself that we were close, I was close, I was almost there. This is where my games activity came into play. I picked a person in front of me and I made sure that the distance between me and them never changed.... assuming this person was not slowing down (actually they always seemed to me speeding up). This kept my pace up and really helped me to focus on not slowing down. I changed people often and even at one point sprinted for one or two minutes ( I started to notice a lot of people passing me and thought maybe I was going slower then it seemed.) 

There was a point between kilometer 15-17 that I was sure I was not going to meet my goal of finishing under 2:20:00. I had seen the 10K marker and the timer at that point read 1:24:00 and I to me it seemed like more then 30 minutes had passed and we were only on about 16K. Something inside me said to not give up, that if one goal was not made then at least the others could be made (Finish strong, Finish, etc...) So I pushed on. One somewhat disappointing thing was that it was not until water station 4, the last one, that I realized they were handing out tea, warm tea, and not just cold water. I took two cups and kept on running, this tea saved the 17-21K all the way to the finish for me. I think cause it was warm it was like a burst of energy. I was able to pick up speed, pass people again, and really pump out the last stretch! 

Side note: Having people cheer you on almost the entire way is the most awesome feeling in the world, I have never been one to play sports other then in high school and so I think I missed out on this feeling. It was so motivational to hear "USA" being chanted when I came around a corner early on in the race. Also they had bands playing every other kilometer, as well as crazy (drunk) fans and family members. It was so cool I felt like they were all cheering for me too which made me finish stronger then I could have imagined! 

Then there was that feeling.... that feeling when you see the finish line... it was like "OMG I am almost done, OMG run faster, get there so I can finally strop running!" Then, once I got there it was like, "OK now I can stop running!" "I finished, I am a winner!" 

Here is a cool link that is me crossing the finish line

Which is something I think is super cool! I have been showing all my family and friends the clip. I was able to finish in 2:17:24 which is what the clock above the race finish line read. I was ecstatic! I could not believe my time, really I was shocked that I did so well! I was at the point of crying, no joke! I feel immeasurably proud of myself. The realization of what I had accomplished hit me like a flash and my body was thrown into this struggle to stay calm, not shout, yell or scream (which honestly would have been except able). So you can only imagine the absolute shock when two days later I realize, "oh hey the time you were looking at was the start of the race as a whole, you were not a part of the first group that started running, but rather you were in the E group toward the back.... which means that maybe you should look at the button timer that was on your shoe... which read 2:07:58!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

2:07:58 was a time that I never imagined I would get.... never imagined that it would feel this way, to finish so strong, so great, and so proud!

I can't wait for the Istanbul Half Marathon April 25th!