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Half. Not so Half.

well, first.  sweet 2 months later I'm writing.  eek.  i would have thought i would have more time to write stateside.  hmm.  not so much.  oh well.  it's probably just as well too - means i'm spending great time catching up with folks.  and well, that is just lovely.

2.5 months ago my sister mentioned doing the indianapolis women's half or 5k with her and mom.  i didn't think we would be in the city at the time so i declined.  plus, i was just getting over a stress fracture in my foot and didn't really want to press my luck running.

but, over the past 2.5 months my foot has felt better and better and my running outside has increased.

i decided i could do a thanksgiving day race with them and my husband and also a race in december.  actually, there's a race in december that kyle has wanted to run that's a half but i have been a bit sheepish about doing that distance so i've been settling to do the 5k of it.

a half just seemed like too much.  i haven't trained for it.  didn't really feel like i could do it.

i haven't really felt like i couldn't do something this whole past year and half of this life transformation.

the more i thought about it - i knew something wasn't right.  

that's not me.  i can do this.

yea, i haven't really trained for it.  not formally.

but, in a beautiful message from my sister she summed it up perfectly with "you haven't trained specifically for a half - but this whole past year and half you have been training for it and you just didn't know it.  you are in shape and can do this."

so a week and a day ago i decided to run my first half.

yea, let's just bypass that 5k and 10k and go straight to the half.

nuts.  but, i knew i could do this.

sunday i went to register for the race and they were sold out.

i was devastated!  noo!!!!  i want to run!!

and then a generous gift from a gal that i've known since i was little blessed me with giving me her bib as a way to contribute to my new fond love of fitness.  love her.  thank you a million times over.

after that happened - i had 5 days to train for my first half.

5 days, friends.  5 days.  i got 2 long runs in and then did some walking.  and by long runs in..i mean like 6.5 miles.  not too long.

race day.  it was raining when i woke up and was heading out the door.

but, by the time we got downtown for the race - it had stopped and it looked hopeful.  (plus, all the weather info out there said that it might have a couple showers but it would stop by 9:15am.  no problem.  i enjoy running in the rain.)

got all stretched out and felt ready to go.  calm.  excited.  just ready to run.

made it to my section with the pace i was aiming for and then moments later…the race began.

i had decided to do a run/walk combo to complete the race.

9-7-8-6-10-8-9-7

that's the minutes i would run with a 1 minute walk in between.  (yes, i know that sequence is crazy but it kept my mind active and i need that when i run.)

everyone ran out faster than me.  and i knew that would happen.  i felt like "i bet I'm at the end of the pack now"…even though there's no way i was.  but, i stayed steady.  stayed at my pace and kept the gal that was my pace keeper in eye sight.

rain started to sprinkle.  and then downpour.  doesn't matter, i thought, it's refreshing.  i believe i even opened up my mouth a bit to drink in some of the rain water.  ha.

about 27 minutes, officials shouted at us to seek cover and a good group of us ran under the awning of a building.  we stayed there for about 10 minutes waiting for the race officials to say the race was back going again.

but, alas, they told us it was cancelled.

sobs.  big tears falling from my eyes.  i couldn't help it.

devastated.  no…no…no…this wasn't happening.

who is sad over not being able to run 13 miles?  what was happening to me?

people were like "oh, at least we still get the medal."

i don't want a medal for a race i didn't complete.

i ran back with a couple of girls that i had seen running in the same pack for those 27 minutes at the beginning.  one girl had a tee on that said "moms run this town" and she told me about their running group (hey, might start one in nairobi!) and then…this is cool….wait for it…

i told her how sad this was that the race was off and she asked if this was my first one and i told her yes and she said this was her 14th (wow.) and i shared with her and the other gal running with us how i did this life transformation recently and was limited in my time to run another race because i live overseas.  she asked where i lived and i told her Kenya and then the other girl quickly said…

"Are you Sarah?"

um…yes.

"Do you know Stephanie Martin?" (gal that has been my source of all things nutrition and fitness!)

um…yes.

"I've been following your story and saw you on Facebook!"

what!?!??!

"I was just in Nairobi for a couple weeks recently."

what!?!?!

How crazy is that?  (Insert God story here: one of my goals for this race was to encourage someone along the way…to find someone to connect with and bless.  thank you, Jesus.)

so, we cross the "finish line" and are given medals and roses and there is this long line of food to eat and chocolate milk.  i was so confused as to why anyone was even eating food and drinking chocolate milk.  we hardly ran.  i didn't work for that chocolate milk (which i wanted)…and that pumpkin spice latte later (which i was really running for….haha!)

i was sad.

throughout the day, i would just tear up thinking about it.

didn't make sense to me until that evening when kyle and i went out to cross off more miles for the day.

i didn't really realize how much i enjoy running.

not just enjoy.

i love running.

i love exercise.

i love the feeling i get after working out.

i love how healthy i am.

i love how strong i am and becoming.

i wanted to cross off that bucket list item so badly.

i had a goal.

and not crossing off that half marathon yesterday was sad.

but, i'm not done.

you better believe that i'm gonna sign up for another one.

there's that one in december with my husband that i think i will do.

and my lovely husband just sent me a half that i could do at Mt. Kilimanjaro.

heck yes.

(which of my Kenyan friends wants to run that??)

my sister gifted me with a t-shirt yesterday that said "and though she be but little, she is fierce".

yep.

totally.

half-marathon: i am coming after you.  i am crossing you off my list.

maybe even a couple of you.




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