It's Easier to Train for Your First Half-Marathon

Back in December I called my sister, Sara, begging her to do the Pittsburgh half-marathon with me. John's sister, Abby, decided to do the full marathon, and I wasn't about to attempt that. Sara said she would do it, closing with (not exactly verbatim), "But Jessica, I'm not going to walk this one so you better keep up."

Rewind to March of 2009, when Sara came to Waco to run the Bearathon--Baylor's half marathon. I ran it the year before, and I told her I'd do it with her again. She trained super hard for it, and I did not. I kept up with her for the first 3 miles, but then she left me in the dust. I continued for about another 3 before I had to start run/walking the last 7.1 miles. Sara finished in just over 2 hours (very impressive!), and I finished 45 minutes later. She has since learned a lesson I know all too well: It's easier to train for your first half marathon.

Fast Forward to Sunday, May 5, 2013 at 5:45 a.m., and Sara and I are sitting on a curb in Corral C with two bananas and about 20,000 other runners. Just over one hour until we embark on a 13.1 mile race throughout downtown Pittsburgh, and we are not prepared. In true Sara-style, she is upbeat and sarcastic about the fact that we have not properly trained for such a feat. I'm alternating between laughing, fighting back tears, and very nearly (and literally) shitting my pants.

Abby finishing the marathon!

At the beginning of March, Abby and I did a 10-mile race in Pittsburgh. Two weeks later, John and I took a week-long vacation to Canada. I came home with a cold and my training suffered immensely. I remained active, but my "long runs" basically stopped. Meanwhile, Sara had been traveling to Michigan and Canada for work. She also took a week-long vacation to "Cancun." So her training also suffered immensely.

Three minutes before the race started, Sara convinced me it was just nerves and I was not going to shit my pants. So we threw away our uneaten bananas and readied ourselves. It was awesome! I went 7 straight miles, walked one, ran two, walked one and ran 2.1 more to the finish. I made it in just under the 2:30 mark (2:29:44). It's my second fastest time to date (I've "run" 4 half-marathons). Sara finished, and she wasn't last. ABBY FINISHED THE WHOLE 26.2 MILES IN JUST OVER 4 HOURS!!!!

After the race with our sign!

John, his mom (with signs!) and uncle were there to cheer us on. It was nice to see some friendly faces among the crowd. And the crowd was awesome! This was by far my favorite race ever! There were hardly any stretches that didn't have spectators or supporters. Abby said one guy was even passing out beer along the marathon route (which ultimately slowed her down and prevented her from finishing in under 4 hours). I have every intention of running the half-marathon again next year. Perhaps this time I'll run the whole thing... but probably not. Seriously, it's easier to train for your first half-marathon.

Showing of the medals... Abby's is twice as large as ours.
But I guess she did run twice as far... and never walked.

Sara and I then spent the rest of the weekend eating back all of the calories we burned. Times Two. And it's documented in pictures:

Celebrating Cinco De Mayo with some Pittsburgh
"Mexican"--queso, wings and margaritas!

Peace, Love and Little Donuts. So good!!

We split a sandwich at the original Primanti Brothers.
(There is meat under those fries on that sandwich.)

Best dinner at BRGR.
Amazing burgers and "adult" milkshakes!