The Half Marathon That Almost Wasn't

I am officially a half marathoner! I was seriously worried this race wouldn't happen. After ATM, I was really looking forward to the Gettysburg Blue and the Grey Half Marathon. I'm a huge history nerd - so the thought of running a race in Gettysburg was really a draw. I never considered the weather- October wasn't bad at all and would be so pretty......so I thought (but more on that later). Also, congratulations to the AMAZING Jenny of Feetoffancy.wordpress.com on finishing her first marathon! 


I kept my eye on the weather all week and until Wednesday, everything looked perfect. Then mother nature decided to torture all runners on the east cost. THIS is what the parking lot of my hotel looked like the night before the race (and additional 3-4 inches fell after this). Also, the Universe decided to screw with me last week and give me a lovely case of bronchitis. Awesome. The week before my first half and I couldn't run at all without wheezing and sounding like a smoker. awesome.

I woke up at 6 and saw on the event's facebook page that the run had been delayed for an hour to give the road crews time to treat the roads. I'm not going to lie I was super thankful- I really needed the additional sleep. I woke up, took some dayquil and my antibiotics, got dressed, and proceeded to cough my head off. I came very very very close to crawling back in bed. But no- I made my boyfriend drive to Gettysburg in a snowstorm and I was going to run this thing.

I literally thought I was going to freeze to death waiting for the start.

While the course description said the course had gradual rolling hills, I beg to differ. My legs beg to differ, and the last 3 miles were just EVIL, but I was happy because I was actually running it, and not dying! (my expectations were very low for this race - obviously)

In the back of my head, I was hoping to finish in under 2:30. I missed that goal by 2 minutes and 49 seconds. (POUT!) However, I am very pleased with myself as I ran the race while not at 100% and I wasn't the last one across the finish line.

Now I have a pretty medal! WIN!