A Long Walk: The More/Fitness Half Marathon

I did it- I walked 13.1 miles!

Me, Jenn and Caitlin

Well, 13.37 miles, if we're being specific. It took nearly four hours, but fortunately I had some wonderful company to help pass the time!

I got to the race site around 7:15, and found Caitlin not much later. It turns out that another Thomas-sponsored blogger, Jenn, had unfortunately gotten sick and decided to walk the race as well. The three of us formed a little walking group and had a blast.

Lining up

Though obviously we'd all wanted to run the race, it turns out that walking has some benefits as well.

Like lots of Tweeting:

Easy photography:

Eyes closed!

Watching the elite runners fly by (this girl was in the lead by about ten minutes...wow!):

Petting cute dogs:

Randomly running into blog friends (hi, Ali!):

Yoga breaks:

Soft pretzel stops (oh yes, we did):

Appreciating the signs (I pretended this one was for me):

And just taking in the beautiful day!

I think that walking unfairly gets a bad rep. It may not seem as challenging as running, but my legs and feet were aching by the end! Our second loop took quite a bit longer than the first, and we were all so excited to hit the double digits at mile 10.

That being said, the time factor wasn't as bad as I'd thought. It helps to have people to chat with and lots of positive energy around you. When we hit mile 13, we decided to give it our all and run the last .1 miles to the finish line!

Our official time was 3:33:46, an average of a 16:20 mile. Kind of funny that my running goal pace for the half had been 1:45- half of what it was! I'm actually glad I walked it, though. It was a fun experience, and whether you run or walk, 13.1 miles is still something to be proud of.

Though the pretzel made a good mid-race snack, the first item on my agenda was food! I happily accepted a bagel thin and an apple from the volunteers.

The bagel was instantly snarfed, but I saved the apple to enjoy after our subsequent Whole Foods feast.

I filled a box with spinach, kale, tofu, coconut curry couscous, artichoke hearts, Indian roasted broccoli, green beans and red peppers, tomatoes, seaweed salad and shredded carrots. Hit the spot.

After my salad, I also had the Granny Smith apple from the race as well as a sweet potato with peanut butter. Finally full! 

Now, it's time to chill for a bit. Reruns of The Hills sounds pretty awesome right now...