I will if you will

Was it really just two months ago that I declared I'd be running the half? It seems like forever ago Caroline and I promised "I will if you will." I am happy to say that we both DOMINATED!! We both killed our expected times of 3 hours. In my first post about the run I thought that I'd be running/walking "much behind" my sister and Care, but it turns out I wasn't that far off! Caroline did it in 2:24, Terri in 2:28 and I did it in 2:39. April and Joel killed it with 2:18, but I knew they'd be way ahead.

It was so fabulous being able to share the experience with some of the people that I love most.  I started the run side by side with my sister, ran with Caroline around Beacon Hill, heard April scream out my name around the turn around by Beacon Hill, and had friends and family cheering me on from the sidelines. So fabulous.

I'll admit, twice on the run I almost started crying. Not from pain though. From an overwhelming sense of pride and gratitude. 15 months ago I was 300 pounds. Yesterday I ran a half marathon. I've always wanted to be one of those fitness people. I love those success stories of people who used to be hugely obese and lost so much weight they were running marathons. I'd spend hours pouring over them, but never truly imagined I'd get there myself. It was always a kind of pipe dream. Not anymore. Now it's a part of me. A part I could never forget.

It was both overwhelming and amazing. There's no other way to put it. It also seems so surreal that it's over. I put a lot of time and effort into training and it all came together so well. I actually enjoyed myself on the run. Every step I ran felt amazing. The whole time I was smiling and loving it. Even towards the 17/18km marker, when I started feeling pretty tired, I kept going. By some miracle I even had enough energy left at the end to sprint to the finish. It was like as soon as I could see the "Finish" sign all the aches and pains went away. There was a big group of people in front of me and for some reason I decided my goal would be to finish before them. So I sprinted. And I passed them. I could hear the cheers around me, especially my mom's, and I felt incredible. As I leap over the finish line, I felt like I could do anything I wanted to. In the summer, 21km seemed impossible. All of us running and walking yesterday proved that it wasn't. All it takes is time, dedication and a great support system!

Caroline's parents managed to get the first post-race picture of me just after they put the medal over my head and I'm so curious to see what it looks like! Shortly after that, as I walked slowly towards the recovery tent full of food I heard Caroline call out my name. After the euphoric crossing of the finish line, that was probably the next best part of the whole run for me. Getting a huge hug from Care, even if we did have a fence between us! I was so, so proud of us. I am  also incredibly happy that I got to share my first half marathon with my sister. Texting back and forth about training, proper clothes, and general pre race jitters was fabulous. It feels great to be able to reconnect over health and fitness. There's another half marathon the day before her birthday in May... if we both keep up the training who knows what will happen? :)

Another huge milestone for me was my post run decisions. Thrifty's had an assortment of food ready for us... fruits, muffins, cookies, bagels. But I stuck with my big bottle of chocolate milk and some fruit. Partly I knew I had pumpkin pie waiting for me at home, but I honest to goodness had no desire for the cookies or muffin. I don't mean it as a gloat or anything, I am just so surprised at myself!

It seemed fitting that I did my first half marathon on Thanksgiving weekend as well. There's so much that I'm thankful for!

• My friends and family for supporting me on every leg of this journey. 
• Karin and Nicole, my awesome awesome roommates who put up with my whining and keep encouraging me. And to Karin who has been (and will continue to be!) an awesome running buddy. 
• BDHQ and the Biggest Winners program.. there's no way I'd be where I am physically without the incredible support and advice from all the trainers and fellow BWers!
• Brian (my sister's boyfriend) and his great tips. Waking up early enough to eat protein pancakes before yesterday's run made a huge difference I think. I didn't feel sick once on the run and had enough energy to keep going the whole time!
• My parents for coming over to Victoria to cheer us on in the run. Every time I'd see my mom's green sweater I'd smile. And grimace as well, since they always seemed to pop up during my walk breaks, so of course I'd have to run through them!
• My body.. I've put it through SO much in the last few years.. all the weight loss, and then gain, and now bootcamp and training for the run. It can't be easy on it. And yet it seems to love it. I'm in a little bit of pain today, but not overly so.

Did anyone notice me talking about my "first" race? Yeah... you could say I've got the bug now!! Karin and I have been talking about training together for the Vancouver half marathon in May. I can only imagine how much better I could be 7 months from me. Especially when I look back to where I was 7 months ago. I think my next goal will be to do it without stopping to walk so much. Maybe 10s and 1s instead of 4s and 1s? Or run the whole way except to drink water? I don't know everything that the future will bring, but I'm sure looking forward to it!!

And since I never want to forget this first race.. I took a lot of photos...

Picking up our race bags!

It won't let me flip this picture.. grr.. but my gu packs and running headphones all ready the night before.

6:25 am and I'm ready to run!

How gorgeous is Victoria? It makes 7am more bearable.

Before the race!

At the starting line.. it's pretty busy!

So cute.. Joel surprising April.. he'd been secretly training for months to run with her!

Caroline and I running together in Beacon Hill

Caroline running ahead. She'd be ahead of me while I walked.. then I'd run past her on my run.. for a few km, and then I slowed down haha!

Post race!! <3 

Two sweaty sisters.. so proud of us!

With Brooklyn, our cheering captain :)

Love this one of the 4 of us!

When I first looked at this photo, I was shocked. It looked like I fit in. I don't stand out in pictures anymore. I'm just another person, happy to be there. Best feeling in the world. I also started looking for other pictures of the three of us to compare. There were some awesome ones out there, but almost non with just us three, we always had Robyn, Emily, Trevor or someone else in. The one photo I did find had me snorting with laughter for a good minute. If you're friends with me on facebook, you should be able to see it here.  

Post race "glow" according to everyone on facebook. Me, I think it's just the sweat. But I was pretty happy :)

There's also a video of the finish line available online. I was able to see Caroline, Terri and I, but I couldn't find April and Joel, sorry! To see our finish, fast forward to around these times:

Caroline: 3:36
Terri: 3:41
Me: 3:51