My first Half Marathon

I am back. I never thought I would say this but…I think I actually am addicted to running now. I never considered running a sport – always had agreed with people who would say running is boring. Then I signed up to run a marathon (half). Slowly, I realised, running is like self discovery. It takes time to like it, but it’s a passion. You get to know your inner limits. It’s a mental game mile after mile.I now consider it to be one of the toughest and most mentally challenging sports I have ever paricipated in.

I challenged myself last Sunday (June 1st) to my first ever half marathon. My finish time was 2:55:45. I had to overcome an unbearable tendon pull on the side of my foot, which had plagued me for months when I had started running. My target was to just complete the run and not give up in between. The run was very energetic, emotional and most of all, very satisfying.

From the moment we stepped in at San Diego, we were treated like heroes. I felt very embarassed to hear myself being called that, when all I did was do some fundraising. I went to the pasta party and there we met some of the actual patients, their families and came to know what we were doing this for and why. I had goosebumps. My foot was bothering me but my mind was made. I was ready.

Here we are at the start of the race…You can see my teammate covering half my face in that one! The run started around 6.35 AM – it was my first run and I was just amazed looking at 24,000 plus people start running all at once…I met so many people on the course of the run that were doing it for family, for friends and many, who were doing it for the good cause. Everyone out there had a story and the run was going on good. Then came mile 8. Hwy 163, with all its curves and slopes – was one hell of a upward slope, 3 miles long.

My foot started really hurting and I was running on tippy toes now. Mile 9 and Mile 10 were the toughest – I had to slow down and literally walk. I tried to focus on talking and cheering other runners around me. Mile 12, my amazing coach Melissa came back for me. She encouraged me and got me through the last mile and saw me get across the finish line. I cannot thank her and Glenn (Coach) enough for being there for me and doing that last mile with me. When I finally saw the mile marker 13.1, it was just heaven

I met some amazing people, saw some great running and overcame my physical pain. I will be running the Philadelphia Half marathon in September ’08. Hopefully, with some luck and good training, I might be even doing the MarineCorps Full Marathon later this same year.

Thanks everyone!