My First Half Marathon

I ran my first half marathon (13.1 miles) on March 4, 2012 in Tampa, FL for Gasparilla. It was alot of fun and over 4,500 racers showed up to run the event. The race started at 6am in the morning and it was raining a little but the wind was blowing strongly against us. This was definitely a fun experience but very tiresome around mile 10. So much of me wanted to stop at mile 10, my legs were sore and the wind was blowing against me making it very tough to run forward 🙂 I had only 3.1 miles to go but I knew that I did not want to give up or stop so I stayed strong and focused mentally on running instead of focusing on how I was feeling. I thought about my family, dad, mom, brother and sister and not wanting to let them down so I finished it for them. 🙂

My finish time was 2:17:07 which I thought was pretty good considering this was my first half marathon and that my training wasnt up to par because of my busy work and school schedule. I was also wearing a 15 pound backpack. 🙂 I am very proud of myself and it felt really good crossing that finish line. It would have been even better to see my family waiting at the finish line for me but they live in another city so it would have been difficult for them to come.  Over three years ago I wasn’t really in shape, didn’t know what running was, and had a not so good diet regimen. Looking back to where I am now, I see a huge accomplishment.

Word of Advice

If you want to do something or have a desire in your heart that you want to do something, set your mind to it and get it done.
Don’t let anyone discourage you of your dreams. Life is too short to be held back by others and their negativity. Surround yourself with positive people and you yourself will stay positive. You wont believe how many times I had people tell me, oh you’ll never lose the weight, you’ll never be able to run a half marathon, its impossible for you to move up in that company. When I hear words like this I just simply tune it out and keep moving and work hard to prove that person otherwise.

Going forward

Going forward I plan to keep living a healthy lifestyle, running and working out. By the end of this year I want to run my first Marathon (26.2 miles) 🙂 Lets see what happens!!

Thanks for reading.