Well after 5 months of dreaming of today...it finally arrived :)
I've been a bundle of nerves since last night. I woke up at 3 and couldn't fall back asleep, thoughts of the course and THE hill kept looming in the background. I tossed and turned and before I knew it, it was 4:30 and it was time to get up and get ready. Over and over in my head this morning, I kept thinking "WOW...its really really really here"

I started the race slow with my best friend Katie by my side. She is a much faster runner than me but she wanted to run a little bit with me to not start off too fast and because we started running together 2 years ago when we did the couch 2 5k program. It was a great way to start the race, just me and my bff talking and taking in all the sights and sounds of the race.

After the 1rst mile, I could tell Katie was pushing the pace and I told her I was going to slow down. She went ahead and I stayed behind and just listened to different people's conversations. After awhile I thought maybe I would turn on my ipod....but in typical Genevieve fashion, I realized it was dead. This caused a small panic in me because I have exactly ONE run to date without music since I started running again. Obviously there was nothing I could do about this except rework my race plan and settle for taking in other people, the birds, the scenery of places I have only driven before but never run :)

The hills were plentiful but after mile 4 there's a nice stretch of flat road where my mom lives. I smiled for the camera people and threw my ipod into the driveway when I passed by my mom, Matt's mom, and her fiance. It was dead weight at that point and there really wasn't any point to keeping it around.

Since the race is an out and back, it was fun clapping for the first half-marathoners and marathoners who were already making their way back to mile 9. It took my mind off the fact that THE hill loomed up ahead and I was nervous. Luckily there was a water stop right at the bottom and this was a godsend. I grabbed some water, mentally braced myself, and said in my head "Lets do this".

I ran that whole darn thing. :) I think doing that was almost as important as finishing that race. Unfortunately halfway up, I could feel my IT band around my hip tighten. I stopped for a few seconds at that very top by Ingleside Farm to do my favorite hip stretch. This helped me for awhile. Towards mile 7 where the out and back is, I started looking for Katie who was ahead and now heading back. When we saw each other, we both got HUGE grins on our faces and I started choking up as I told her I loved her and cracked a small inside joke. It was one of the best parts of the race for me.

My hip started to hurt as I headed back and it continued to get worse after mile 8. I made the commitment to stop at my mom's driveway, grab some water, stretch, and try and get my head in a better place. As my mom was pouring me a glass of water, another girl just walked up on the driveway and said "hey I want some" I kept staring at her like...um huh? Get off my driveway and get your own damn water! I of course didn't say this and got her a glass...but I thought it was kind of weird when it was obviously NOT a water stop. Apparently after I left another girl came up to my mom and handed her some trash as she ran by. Weird!

A little after mile 9, I started walking. There was a gradual uphill and my hip felt AWFUL. I felt ashamed and bummed but I just wanted to finish at this point and I also wanted to be able to run as much as possible in the least amount of pain. From there on I walked anything uphill and ran the rest. While I was walking I guess it was evident I was in a fair amount of pain since I had a definite limp going. I had just grabbed some water outside mile 10 when a woman ran next to me and just started talking to me about my tattoos.
It got my head off my hip and together we ran for the rest of the race minus walking up one big hill together. She talked to me about how this was her 95th marathon, running pregnant, her husband, her kids, asked me about what got me into running, etc etc etc. I honestly know SHE got me through those last 3 miles. I was hurting, my pride was hurting, I was doubting myself, I was tired...but she ran beside me, talked to me, told me how good I was doing, and kept me going until we split off at mile 13 since she was running the full. I didn't get her name and I wish I had because what she did meant SO much to me.

And then there it was...the finish line. I saw my mom, Matt's mom, and Marcus cheering on the sidelines, then I passed my dad snapping away with his camera, I could hear Amber K. screaming my name, and then it was done. I began SOBBING. Matt came and gave me the best hug ever even though I stunk and was a complete blubbering idiot. I was in so much pain and so overwhelmed that despite my hip, I still finished under my goal of 2:30 with a 2:26.

It was a wonderful, awesome, amazing feeling and despite the fact that I was in HUGE amounts of pain towards the end, I really couldn't have asked for a better first half marathon. I had my loved ones cheering me on, straight up gorgeous weather, a beautiful course, and the wonderful feeling of accomplishing something I have dreamed of for a long time.

Thank you all for your support through my injury and starting back into running. Having people leave you comments when you've had a crappy run really does make it "better" I am so happy to be a part of such an awesome community. And thanks to Coach Matt, who pushed me every step of the way.