13.1 miles.

on sunday, a. and i raced in our very first 1/2 marathon.  this race took place along the sliver strand, a strip of highway in san diego that connects coronado island and imperial beach.  i won't lie.  i was nervous.  like, am i going to be able to do this thing, nervous.  luckily i not only signed up with a. but also with my sister-in-law and a friend and his daughter (both of whom do races like this all the time and convinced me that if i stick to my training, i'll be fine).

early into my training, i decided this race wasn't about time.  it couldn't be.  this race, my very first 1/2 marathon, had to be about finishing.  so i adopted a motto to keep me focused: chug-a-lug.  i'm not sure when or where i first heard this, but i loved it immediately.

after a cloudy and cold couple of days, we woke up on sunday to the most beautiful, sun-soaked, southern california weather.  the morning was cool and refreshing and as we stretched and the sun rose, the day just got better and better.

the coolest part of this race is that in addition to the 1/2 marathon, they offer races for rollerbladers (this is what my sister-in-law did--actually, she's the one that peer pressured us into doing this in the first place), hand-powered equipment, a 10K and a 5K.  there is literally something for everyone.  plus, the entire race is flat...the perfect course for a bunch of novices or speed racers.

during the race i had a great time.  i ran solo and enjoyed listening to the various coaches and other people's conversations while taking in panoramic views of the pacific ocean and san diego bay.  it wasn't until mile 8 that i started getting hot spots on my feet and had to adjust my socks and shoes.  at this time, i also decided it was time for music.

during the race, i divided the course into four 5K races with 1 mile remaining at the end.  this helped me break down the race into manageable pieces and not get overwhelmed with miles and miles of road ahead of me.  while slow, i stayed really steady and finished strong.  so strong in fact, that i definitely could have ran longer if for some crazy reason i decided i wanted to.

as for 1/2 marathoning, i now have a time to beat and another goal to set my sights for.  i'll definitely do another one in the recent future and plan to continue to keep long runs as part of my overall training.  the entire process, while initially unnerving, was a lot of fun, totally gratifying, and made me so proud of our exciting accomplishment.