Werthmann Blog: 'I Am Officially A Half Marathoner!'
My name is Kelly and I am officially a half marathoner! WOOHOO!
I cannot believe I ran 13.1 miles! Before Sunday, my longest run was 6.3 miles -- the Bolder Boulder on May 30th, which was also my first 10k. Despite my goals of training hard all summer and preparing for my first half marathon, I didn't get very many miles in and honestly was worried I wouldn't make it to the Rock 'N Roll finish line. But I did and with it I set a new personal distance record!
It wasn't easy, that's for sure. The first six miles felt great -- exploring downtown Denver in a new way kept me motivated as did the crowd and their creative signs for all the runners. As the sun rose, so did the mercury and it was toasty! Between reaching mile 7 and the near 80 degree temps, my body was giving in to the distance and heat. That's about the time I heard my dad's advice in my head -- "Whatever you do, just keep moving."
That proved difficult as I passed the faster runners making their final mile journey on 17th. That two-way stretch of the course was not so pleasant, in my opinion, for two reasons: 1) I wished I was as fast as they were and was close to being done, and 2) That part of the race was all I could think about as I slowly jogged through City Park, knowing I had so many more miles to go.
I read on another runner's blog that it is best to take every race one mile at a time...to focus on the mile you're in and not worry about how many are left because it can be easier to process one mile as opposed to '8 more to go,' or 'You're half way there.' And that was true, for the most part. Reaching miles 9 and 10, though, I couldn't help but think about how much further I had to go until the finish line.
Then the moment finally came when I saw the finish -- I almost cried! As tired and sore as I was, I sprinted as fast as I could and crossed the finish line with my arms held high. It felt so good! Receiving my first half marathon medal made the moment even sweeter -- I still can't believe I did it!
And, despite the post-race pain, I am already looking forward to my next half marathon!
Kelly Werthmann joined the CBS4 team in 2012 as the morning reporter, covering national stories like the Aurora Theater Shooting and devastating Colorado wildfires. She now anchors CBS4 Weekend Morning News and reports during the week. Connect with her on Facebook or Twitter @KellyCBS4.
