Revel Mt. Charleston Half Marathon (forever ago)

We ran another half marathon! It was a blast and we both loved it so so much. It was Mason's fourth half, and my second. It was a really emotional run for me and I was SO glad that Mason was waiting for me at the finish line, because I just started sobbing in his arms haha. It was kind of embarrassing, he was like, "Bri! Get your medal!" And the 15 year old girl walked up to me and put it on me while I was sobbing uncontrollably. Ha. Good thing we'll never see each other again.

Anyway, starting from the beginning, we left Mason's parents' house at around 4:30 the morning of the race. Mason's dad, Lane, ran it with us. We were all really tired, but excited. (I was so nervous I was going to have a terrible case of the trots again, so I took lots of Imodium. ;) ) And then we were off to the race! After a nice warm bus ride they kicked us off the buses and we stood around in the cold and watched the sun rise. Finally it was 6:30 and we started running!

I tried running with a pacer this time, and it was a really good decision. I ran with the 2:10 guy, so our mile times weren's super fast, plus we were running down a mountain for about the first six miles, I think. It was fun listening to him babble on and on about running and stay distracted. Around mile seven I was feeling awesome and fresh so I decided to kick it up a notch, and I increased my pace just a little so eventually I was far ahead of the group.

I was doing great until about mile 11.5 when my left hip and knee started to really really hurt. I kept going, and pretty soon the muscle on the front of my shin (also on the left leg) started to get super tight and hurt like the dickens. Around mile 12 I couldn't take it anymore and had to start walking. The 2:10 guy passed me, and I said, "Oh no!" He looked back at me and said, "Yeah..." apologetically as he zipped up the seemingly enormous hill we were on. As he ran away from me I started to see my dreams of a PR going with him. Add on to that the intense pain in my entire left leg and I just cracked. I started to walk, hoping a little break would help my leg to feel better. I felt terrible that I was walking, and started to cry.

I think people noticed that I was struggling because spectators started saying things to me like, "You got this girl!", "You're almost there!", and, "It's okay! You're doing great!" Which only made me cry more haha. I kept trying to run, but always had to stop again, mostly because of my hip. Anyway, once I got to where I could see the finish line I decided I was going to run all the way there even if my legs fell off. Luckily they remained hooked to my body and I got a huge shot of adrenaline when I got really close which allowed me to sprint past about 6 people. And then Mason was there, looking so happy to see me, and making me feel so proud, and I just lost it and started bawling.

So it was kind of a weird experience. Lots of emotions. No trots, which is definitely abnormal for me, if you must know. I actually did end up with a PR. Somehow I was able to finish in 2:10 and some seconds. It made me feel strong and powerful and I loved it!