I must be half crazy

Emily, myself and Sharla at the starting line for the 2012 race.

I completed the 39th annual Hospital Hill half marathon in Kansas City on June 2, 2012. It was my first half marathon, and it was hell.

My cousin, Sharla, one of our best friends, Emily, and I trained together for the entire last semester and into the summer.

It was... rough to say the least. I love running, but some of those runs just wore me out. Completing the distance, though, was always an amazing feeling.

I remember when Emily and I completed our eight mile run. It had taken much longer than anticipated. We finished at the end of my street and walked the block to my house yelling (at midnight, mind you) "WE RAN EIGHT MILES!!! HOW ABOUT THAT?!?!? WOOOOOO!!!!"

We ran into my house still cheering before promptly getting two huge cups of water and laying on the floor half laughing, half struggling for air. Luckily, my parents were still awake or that would not have gone over so well.

The three of us finished at different times during the actual half marathon, but we did it together. It was a struggle. I wanted to cry. I had bruised my foot the week before and I only made it worse completing the half marathon. I chaffed in so many places it's painful to even think about. I was limping and hopping about for a solid week before I could attempt to walk normal again.

And yet, remembering all of that did not stop me from registering for the Hospital Hill 40th annual half marathon on June 1.

I've learned a few things after competing my first half last year, and I am hoping to do better this year. A better time would be great (I finished in two hours, 24 minutes), but what would be even better would be if I didn't feel utterly and completely drained after crossing the finish line.

I know that I MUST do better at sticking to the training plan. Last year, I treated it like a loose guideline. That will not be happening this year.

I also need to eat better meals. Meals that replenish my body with what it needs after a long run.

There are more of us attempting to "conquer the hill" this year. Emily and I will be repeaters. My younger sister, Karley, will be running it as well. My best friend, Lindsey, is going to do the 10k race. (All races start together, just have different turn off for different routes.) Sharla will be training with us, but not competing on that Saturday.

I am excited and terrified. The next few months are going to be interesting. I'm still working on getting in better shape and would like to be able to run four miles easily before officially starting training in March.

Let's just say, I'll definitely be spending a lot of time at the Y.

Online:
http://www.hospitalhillrun.com/
Training plan we used last year:
http://www.halhigdon.com/training/