lostsomewhere: 1st Half Marathon: Crawlin Crab 2014

Well that went fast. I remember when I decided to train for a half like it was yesterday. But I guess when you have a 5 month old, time does fly. Anyways, what an experience.

Race Weekend:

My Uncle Dan (My dad's brother), Aunt Nancy, cousins Eric and Mike decided to run with me for my first half marathon. They were going to run a half in Greensboro when my aunt invited me to join her. I told her that there was no way I could do that race because it was so much hillier than I can even train here. So they decided to come to Hampton Roads and run the race with me. It was good to see them and spend some time with them. Saturday night they invited us to their rental cottage in Ocean View for dinner. It was great getting us all together for a great dinner before the big day. Sunday we had them over for tacos and brews. A weekend is never enough but it was a lot of fun catching up with my cousins. When we were kids, we spent a few vacations together.

Race Recap:

I was a bit jittery the night before the race but I expected that. Since I have lost so much weight, I have been much healthier and I didn't get pre-race jitters. We met up at the convention center and got a few pictures together. We all separated to our different corrals. I was in the back (All my cousins are pretty good runners). +Lori Lambert and family got their right before the start. It's always good to have the reasons you are doing these crazy things for being there. The race started well. The family was cheering me on at mile 4. Which it really pumped me up. I also called my grandfather, my brother +Scott Lambert and my best friend +Chuck Tickhill . They got a kick out of me calling them during the race. LOL. I decided to do this a long time ago because I really wanted to call the people who are always there for me. I decided to follow the 2:30 pacer to keep a pace and go from there. I knew if I felt good half way I could leave them and if I didn't I would just stay behind. My last few paces were much faster than this but I needed to stay paced for the first half. I left the pacers around mile 7. From there on, I was passing people left and right. It felt good picking up the pace and feeling so good. At mile 9, I ran into one of my #googleplus friends +Christine Bodden . She was suppose to run too but hurt her foot a few weeks ago. So she waited for me, rooted me on with her #dmb hoodie (Clearly she is awesome because she runs and loves #dmb). We got a selfie in there too. Had to.

The last few miles were great. I felt good. There were a few too many bridges for me. My calves were sore but nothing too bad. My last training run in Pittsburgh helped (maybe it was the reason I was sore still. Who knows). Drew from Running Etc. ran with me for a mile and a half. I appreciated his support. Got to love the Ambassador team support.

Coming down the stretch was exciting. I remember running a marathon relay almost ten years ago feeling so enthusiastic about it. I never thought I would get healthy enough to even attempt this. But I did and I did it so much faster than expected. As I came to the finish line, I saw my cousins, aunt and uncle. As I crossed the finish line, I saw my wife and daughter. It felt so good to finish. I was so stiff after though. It was the perfect race for my first half. I finished at 2:21:57. I finished 8 minutes faster than my goal. My slowest mile was when I stopped to pee. The race was so much more fun with family there and family running with you.

Overall, I was super happy. Couldn't of had a better first half marathon experience.