This was the Skyline Half Marathon, a brand new race that was brought to my attention at the Too Cold to Hold half in February. I asked my aunt if she wanted to do it with me, as she typically is my buddy for all Dallas races, and she had another engagement for that day. I decided not to do it. Yet, for whatever reason, it tugged at the back of my mind for weeks. I kept thinking I really wanted to do this one race, even though I had no idea why. When I couldn’t make the Woodlands Half Marathon due to inclement weather up here, my mind was made up; I was going to do this race to make up for missing that other half.

I signed up and was instantly terrified. I was going to walk 13.1 miles, for over 3 hours, alone? Sure I can load up my iPod with podcasts and musics, but would that sustain me for 13.1 miles? I was screaming inside for days before the race. I kept up my regular training as usual, and I decided that if I could handle two hours walking with just podcasts in my ears, then one more hour wouldn’t be that big of deal.

As I walked up to the starting line, surrounded by hundreds of people, I never felt more alone in my life. I’m an introvert, and I generally am alone by choice, but man, when you don’t choose to be alone, the lonely feelings are so crushing. I immediately put on one the EvilCast podcasts, the last podcast I was on with three of my closest gaming friends. In a way, it was like listening to my friends talk to me, even though I had heard this conversation before and I was a part of it. Focusing on them talking made me ignore how much further I had to go. And then I tried something I’ve never tried before in a race: jogging portions of it.

I jogged the first quarter mile at the start, which is when my shins yelled, uh, what the fuck are you doing? Then I jogged with each and every downhill. There weren’t a ton of them, but it was a start. I haven’t really jogged since my knee surgery, and I definitely haven’t trained with jogging at all. In many ways, this was an incredibly stupid idea. But I wanted to try it. And then I jogged the last stretch into the finish line. I started jogging, I wanted to end strong too. That was part of why I finished my fastest time ever, but the other reason was because I constantly made sure I kept a faster than a 15 minute/mile pace. I was able to keep between a 13-14:30 minute/mile pace most of the race. As I crossed at 3 hours and 11 minutes, I nearly burst into tears with happiness. Not only did I do this by myself, something I was terrified to do, but I also completed a personal best.

And then I stopped jogging, took my medal, grabbed a cup of water, and felt my hips instantly scream at me. Oh how they were not pleased with me at all. Damn good thing I’ve been going to yoga as long as I have, as I knew exactly what stretches to help my poor legs.

After showering and stretching, I took the best nap of my entire life. It’s amazing how much better you sleep knowing you can do anything if you put your mind to it. Well, walking for 3 hours straight will make you sleep well, too.

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