What a day! It started with a 4:45 a.m. wake up call to be ready for my 5:30 a.m. ride to the Pittsburgh Half-Marathon with my friend Jen.We hung out in the parking garage with Julie for a bit until we headed over to the porta pottys and by the time we got thru the line, it was time to line up!

They were calling for rain and thunderstorms, but it was nice and overcast when we started the race. I was hopeful the rain would hold off since I refused to acknowledge the possibility of rain all week. It started to rain at mile 1.9 and did not stop for the entire race. I lost Jen before mile two and I think Julie and I separated before mile four or five. I felt bad leaving my friends but I knew we all had to run our own races.

And the rain was not that bad for the first half of the race. Around mile eight or so, I just got really annoyed with the rain. I was soaked to the bone and I could feel the water swishing around in my shoe. I was miserable. But, I was still able to hit 10 miles in about two hours. The last three miles were hard and I took a ton of walk breaks. Races like this show you what you’re made of. I’m tough and I don’t quit.

I really wanted to set a new half-marathon PR and get around 2:20 or better, but it just was not in the cards today. I finished in about 2:40. I’m kinda disappointed, but I knew I did the best I could today given the weather and my so-so training.

I just about fell over once I got to the finish. The chute for water/medals/food was pretty bottlenecked and the combo of not running almost caused my legs to give out. Luckily, they had a ton of food at the end, so I grabbed the food and went to sit down, so I could eat and let folks know where I was. Jen was going to come meet me, but she wasn’t able to because there was a bomb threat and they stopped the race! Luckily, they were able to take care of it and divert some of the runners. Such a scary thought since I ran right by it most likely!

I’m not feeling too bad right now, my hips scream every time I stand up and I think I’m going to have blisters given the wet socks. I took a cold bath when I got home and tried to keep moving today, so I don’t think I’ll feel too bad tomorrow. But, I do know I’ll still feel awesome for competing a race in less than ideal circumstances.

Thank you to everyone that offered words or tweets of encouragement and congrats, it is much appreciated and I love being part of such a supportive community. And major props to all the volunteers on the course who handled their duties with a smile, thank you!

P.S., Like the new name and design? I’m still working out some of the kinks, but I think its a great improvement over the pink so far!