Post-Race: Day 3

Saturday 2/14: Started the day by running out to Decatur with my fiance and his dad (and Dad's pickup) to pick up my very first "real furniture" purchase - a sofa and chair (with fitted slip covers)! Very excited about that! Then went home to pack what I needed for the weekend, then picked up Ross and his kid brother Mathew and we all drive down to Birmingham.
Ross and Mathew stayed with in-town relatives while I was dropped off at the hotel to meet up with the team and gather the last couple pieces for my race. The expo - where I had to pick up my race packet - was a little on the small side, but had several interesting booths and I was very tempted to pick up a few things (having just shelled out for furniture kept impromptu spending safely in check).
Awesome Pasta Party with the team, and slept like a rock.

Sunday 2/15:
Set my alarm for 5am, so I'd have plenty of time to digest breakfast before starting line, but those that know me also know I am NOT a morning person and won't be the least surprised that I didn't pry myself out of bed until 5:20.
Race started at 7:03am (because local news channels covering the race tuned in at 7am and needed time for opening remarks and all that *roll eyes*).
I kept pace with one of my teammates for the first 4 1/2 miles before needing to slow up a bit - I had initially planned to run the full marathon with this teammate, we magically have a very good matched pace. My ankles and hips reminded me to slow down often, but despite lack of training I kept a consistent pace throughout.
The Birmingham course has undergone several changes recently to cut out the more substantial hills, and parts of the course were actually very pretty (although at those points I was more focused on not tripping on the uneven pavement because this was an older district of town with those obnoxious narrow roads that never get the maintenance they need).

The last mile I was definitely hurting, but forced myself to "run" the whole way. Ross was cheering with my mentors/TNT Cheer Team at a couple points along the course, and jogged most of the last mile with me - I wanted to both hug him for jogging along with me and beat the crap out of him because he was all bouncy and perky and it took all I had at that point just to keep up any forward momentum.

Results: Met both my goals - to finish without injury and under 3 hours! official finish time was 2:50:45 for my first half marathon - not too shabby!
Lots of pictures taken, but none of them back to me yet (digital cameras are handy and all, but it doesn't do a bit of good when their owners don't download and send them to you!)

Fed, watered, and a long hot shower before leaving Birmingham. Hot soak in the tub and a rubdown before bed, then lots of ice and self-massage on Monday (President's day, a paid holiday for me! Yay!). Yesterday [Tuesday] back to work and moving slow but feeling good - still very tender feet so I wore my running shoes to work because they have my awesome arch supports in them. and Today I'd say I'm back to about 90% and already signed up for my next major race (and even convinced Ross to run it with me!) The Huntsville Cotton Row 10K (6.2 miles) on Memorial Day.
Also going to train with a group of runner-friends for a triathlon; don't know which one yet, but I'm sure something local will turn up...