I did it! I completed my first official half-marathon in 2:17:05.86. That means I ran 10:28 minutes per mile. Perfect timing– my goal was 12-minute miles or better. I truly surprised myself.

Plus, all the money made at the Frederick Running Festival goes to the United Way of Frederick County and the Special Olympics of Maryland. Both are wonderful organizations. (In 2001, I was a United Way of St. Louis volunteer who helped decide which organizations received donations.)

The Frederick Half-Marathon began at 6:30 a.m. I worked late shift the night before, so I didn’t get to bed until after midnight. I woke up around 4:30 a.m. and ate oatmeal for breakfast. I got dressed and then headed out around 5:15. Patrick drove while I pinned on my bib number. I realized I forgot my watch, which meant I would be a bit blind about pacing during my run. I had a protein bar in the car, and hoped we would arrive in time. We barely made it. As we approached the starting line, the announcer said to run. I pretty much took off right then.

It seemed the whole town of Frederick was out to cheer us on. My favorite part of the race was at the very beginning. A man was holding a bright yellow sign that said, “Welcome Runners!” It made me feel so good. As I ran through neighborhoods, I waved and said, “Good Morning,” to the people who came out of their homes to cheer us on. Many were simply sitting on their porches, drinking coffee, and waving.

I had incredible amounts of energy. I was smiling, waving to everyone, and was even passing people up! I felt fast and strong. I hadn’t seen any mile markers, but I felt confident that I’d soon be seeing mile-marker number 6 at any time. I rounded a corner and saw I had only reached mile 3. I instantly felt defeated. I knew I was running too fast and there was no way I could keep up this pace.

Luckily, I had my music with me. I turned it up and kept running– at a little bit of a slower pace of course. As I ran, I looked down. I wanted to be sure I wouldn’t trip on anything. I noticed people’s feet running in front of me. Then, I did a double-take. One runner had no shoes. He was running barefoot! It was so neat! Patrick took a picture of a sign from one of his fans. This is apparently his 250th barefoot marathon.

Half way through the run, it began to rain. Not much– just a little drizzle. It was nice because it kept me cool. By the end of the race it was raining a bit more. Puddles had already formed, and several times I ran through them. My socks were wet, and worst of all, I was getting chaffing between my legs. I didn’t have trouble with this during training. But I only did small runs when it rained. My shorts kept wading up.

I spent time following different runners. The hardest part about this run was cramping. I ate breakfast and had a protein bar but couldn’t get to a bathroom before the race. I was beginning to feel sick, but every portable bathroom had a long line. I didn’t want to ruin my pacing by waiting in line. After mile 10, I saw two bathrooms without lines. It only took a moment for one to open up. I was happy I stopped because I was definitely getting sick from the… wait. I spent at least five minutes before getting back on the course. 

I never regained my stride. The rest of the race was a struggle. Again, my music helped me through it. I was dreaming of the finish line. I just wanted to stop. At this point, I wasn’t even thinking, “what was I thinking.” I just thought– “when I’m done, I can lay down.” 

Finally I saw mile marker 12. I only had 1.1 miles to go and it was all uphill. There was virtually no one there to cheer us on. It was incredibly hard. Finally I got up to the fairgrounds and saw mile 13. All I had to do was go on the track and cross the finish line. I don’t remember which song got me there. I turned off my music so I could hear and learned I finished around 2:20. I was happy.

A little girl handed me my medal and a man tried to wrap me in foil. But I was burning up. I just wanted to see Patrick. He wore a yellow hat so I could find him easily. I followed the flood of runners toward the recovery tent when I heard my name. It was Patrick! He gave me a huge hug and I started crying. I was happy and in pain. Lots and lots of pain. We got away from the crowds and he helped me stretch. I sat down in the rain, but didn’t care that I was getting even more wet. I just wanted the pain to go away.

I never went to the recovery tent to get food, even though a banana would have helped. I just wanted to get home and shower. I brought another protein bar with me in the car. We walked there– very, very slowly.

As we walked there I heard my name. Matt Slusher, or Boobtubios on Twitter, had just run the half. This is the first time we met in real life. It was great to see a friendly face! We got in the car and I ate my protein bar. But the cars in the parking lot weren’t moving at all. I called my mom and my Yia Yia. After 30 minutes, I got out and walked back up to the bathrooms. I again was cramping up and feeling sick. Finally, Patrick found another way out of the parking lot and picked me up. We went home. I took a long, hot bath. I was so tired, especially since I only got a few hours of sleep the night before. I knew I shouldn’t, but I took a nap anyway. The nap turned into hours of sleep.

When I woke up, I could barely move. I certainly couldn’t walk. It took me a while, but finally I got ready for my victory dinner. Patrick took me to Red Hot and Blue in Gaithersburg. I wore my medal there! I had a whole onion loaf, half-rack of ribs, corn bread, and hush puppies. We also had dessert. It was so good! 

When we got back home, I took another long, hot bath. This time with Epsom salt. Patrick helped massage my I.T. Band and legs which helped a lot. I got in bed by 11 p.m. and fell right asleep. I woke up early Monday and had a long massage at Massage Envy with Fritz (by far the best massous on the planet!). He helped me stretch out. I can walk now, but I’m still in pain. It will most likely take me the whole week to recover. 

But I’d love to start running again. My next race is a half-marathon in Baltimore in October. I’d like to run before that, but I’m going to wait to plan anything until I recover from this race. I’m still very happy and proud of myself. My goal for Baltimore: run the half in two hours or less.

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