A Goal Reached!

Since the summer of 2015, one of my goals has been to walk a half-marathon.  My friend Connie asked if I'd ever thought of doing one and she offered to walk it with me.  Connie has run several half-marathon before, so it meant a lot to me that she was offering to WALK the entire race with me.
Immediately, I got so excited just considering doing a half with her.  I knew I wanted to do it, but would I be ABLE to do it?  Of course I could!  But I knew I would need to train for it.  I read all that I could find, to prepare myself for the race.  Connie and I trained together, too.

Training is so important.  We did a training walk, probably about 10 miles, a week before the half.  This particular session taught us a lot.  Hydrate more and EAT more during the walk.  I had read about suggested snacks to eat during a long race and I took one snack with me.  But realized, when I began feeling drained, weak, wrung-out...that I hadn't eaten enough.

For the half marathon race I made sure I took along more snacks.  What a difference it made!
I felt good throughout the entire race.  Of course I got tired, but I felt good.  Never weak.  And my recovery time after the half was quick. It was an amazing experience!

The race we chose, was the 2016 Inaugural Naperville Women's Half Marathon in Naperville, Illinois.
It was a sunny and cold morning on April 24.  Just 45 degrees F.  I was shivering while we waited for the race to start.  Maybe just a little bit of that was nerves...but mostly cold. :)

Here's a pic taken just before the start.

Then...............when we finished.  It was awesome!

Crossing the finish line together!

Waving to our personal photographer.  Thank you Tara!

Connie and Me.  Do we look happy...or what???!!!

Elated me!

The medal and tshirt I earned.

 All throughout the half marathon (by the way, that's 13.1 miles) there were volunteers handing water and gatorade.  And there were "Volun-cheers".  That's what their tshirts said and they indeed cheered us on.  The place where it meant the most to me, was leading up to the finish line.  Both sides of the track were lined with volunteers cheering and yelling for us.  Encouraging us to finish.  It gave me such a boost and I even had tears in my eyes.  It's an experience I'll never forget.
Oh.  By the way....Connie and I have already registered for the same race in 2017.  Woooo hoooo!!!

Go for it.  Do it.  Whatever it is you really want to accomplish, you CAN do it.
A few years ago, when I was 77 pounds heavier and did no physical activity, no one could have convinced me that in 2016 I would complete a half marathon and love it!