13.1

I'm officially a half marathoner.

I finished the Rock 'n' Roll Chicago Half Marathon on Sunday with an official time of 2:36:03. Despite the rain and my subsequent soreness, it was a great first experience. I would like to thank my friends and family for all their support during my training and for their good luck wishes this weekend. Having so many people believe in me, and cheering me on from a distance, gave me the will to push through.

My official numbers: Overall place was 11,737 (apparently 25,000 people were signed up for the race), place among all females was 6,760, and my age division place was 1,923. So, looks like I was in the top half of all racers. Not bad for my first time!

I'm still processing the whole experience in my head and letting this accomplishment sink in, so here are some random, jumbled highlights from the race:

*Despite a predicted perfect forecast (65 and sunny, 10 percent chance of rain), race day was a much different story (hats off to the weathermen for another job well done). It was dark when I left my house for the race, but it was cool as predicted and I was thankful. However, once the sun came up we could all see the ominous clouds rolling in and knew we were in for it. "It," came in the form over downpours around mile four and again from about mile 10 through the post-race celebration. The rain actually felt good on my sweaty skin, but I was worried about the welfare of my iPod. Luckily, we all made it out in one still-working piece. Well, at least the iPod did.. I had a little trouble walking over the next 48 hours.

*You know you're awake too early when... I left my apartment at 4:30 a.m. and encountered a handful of drunken people on their way home from the bars. At the first mile marker, there was a group of people standing on the corner of a street laced with bars. One girl, her eyes half open and high heels in hand, was swaying back and forth with the occasional "woooo" coming out of her mouth. I'm 99.999 percent sure they were just leaving the bar.

*After the race, each runner got two MGD 64 beers. Let's just say it tasted like it had 64 calories. I agree with the guy standing behind me who said: "I would have sacrificed the 90 calories for a Miller Lite." I gave away my second beer to someone who would appreciate it.

*I don't think I would have gotten through the race as well, or as fast as I did, without the support of my friend Trish. We waitressed together during college and have kept in touch mostly via Facebook since. She was in town because she works for Brooks, one of the sponsors of the half. Around mile seven, Trish jumped in to run a few miles with me and stayed with me until mile 12. Having someone to talk to helped the miles go by quicker, and having a better and more experienced runner alongside me made me push myself to keep running when I wanted to give up and start walking. Knowing that she was going to be there waiting for me at mile seven also gave me something to look forward to and helped me get through the first part of the race.

*After the race, I could barely walk because the pain in my calves and Achilles on both feet/legs was so intense. X Sport Fitness, one of the main sponsors of the race, has a tent where runners could have their muscles rolled out. I took advantage--and now I understand John Mellencamp's line "hurt so good." It hurt, but it was a productive pain because I could feel the muscles being worked and knew I'd be better off the next morning for it. Apparently I was making pain faces because one of the other trainers asked if I was OK because every time he looked at me I was wincing and grinding my teeth. I told him I was making the same face at mile 11.

*When they say "completely flat course," it isn't. My coworker says runners are "hill finders" because you never notice an incline until you're running up it, and believe me, I noticed several during the race. So much for that.

A special thanks to my coworkers Abby and Kristin, the ones who are responsible for this entire thing. Abby, my "trainer" and running buddy signed me up for the race and made me do it because she knew it would be good for me, and Kristin, the half-marathon maniac and wealth of priceless knowledge that I tapped into more than 100 times for answers and advice. Thank you for everything and for talking me into doing this--I definitely feel like a stronger person for it.

And now I guess I'm addicted to running. I took Monday off to rest and stretch my muscles (and celebrate with $1 tacos) but bought a new pair of running shoes. Today--just a little more than 48 hours after the race--I ran the 4.3 miles home from work. And it felt great.