Guest Post: My First Half-Marathon by Rachel Rizzo

9:55 AM Remy Maguire - Manifest the Best 3 Comments

If someone told me 6 months ago that I’d be running a half-marathon, I would’ve told them they were crazy. But, run a half-marathon I did, and AWESOME it was!

Last fall, I found myself busy all of the time with work and with school, and it was very easy for me to put my fitness on the backburner. When my roommate told me she was signing up to run the Rock N’ Roll DC Half Marathon in March (this was in November…), I signed up before I had time to talk myself out of it. Looking back, it was one of the best decisions I’ve ever made for I’ve found a new love of running that I never thought I’d have.

I have always been an athlete, but running long distance was never really my thing, or so I thought. I started slowly, running 3 or 4 miles at a time, and that was enough. By the time I was finished, I’d be panting, struggling for breath, and thinking about how nice my couch sounded.

However, I finally got to the point where my lungs were conditioned, my legs were strong, and I didn’t have to worry about being worn out and tired at mile 4. I was able to go, go, and go, and although it took a couple of grueling months, finally getting to that point made all of the hard work worth it!

The night before the race, my roommate Lindsey, my boyfriend Ben and his brother Ethan and I all cooked homemade pizzas to carb up and fuel the next morning’s race (at the suggestion of my athletically awesome-in-every-way cousin, Remy).

The next day, we got up early, hydrated, stretched, ate some energy bars and bagels, and out the door we went, on our way to meet 25,000 of our friends in downtown DC!

Prior to the half, I had only run 10.5 miles at once, so I was a bit nervous that I wouldn’t be able to finish. Miles 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5 went off without a hitch. Miles 6, 7 and 8 got a bit tougher. Finally, at mile 9, I hit the point where I wanted to stop. My legs were tired and getting sore, walking for a few minutes wouldn’t hurt right? But no, I got my head in the game, pushed, pushed and pushed myself, told myself I wasn’t a quitter, and finished my first half-marathon in 2 hours and 2 minutes. Not bad for a first-timer!

Overall, the experience of training and finishing was amazing and fulfilling, and I can’t wait to do another one…. who knows, maybe someday a full marathon will be in order?!