Provo Half Marathon!

I know what you guys are thinking, "I didn't know that Carrie was a runner?" That is because, I am not! The last week of February my sister Chellese posted on her blog that she was going to do this half marathon the first week in April, well I decided that I wanted to do something like this that would force me to exercise, so I decided to do it and I paid the registration fee and ran that day (about 2 miles) and a couple days later I ran again (about 2 and 1/2 miles) keep in mind that I really haven't been exercising so I felt pretty good about making it that far. Then on the 5th of march I found out that I was pregnant, so I felt like I shouldn't push myself too hard. Then the following week on the 10th I ended up miscarrying which I was OK with, (bummed, but felt like it was supposed to happen) but then I couldn't run for about another week, so I ran a total of four times before the race, and the farthest I had ran was 4 miles. The day before the race my shoes were really bothering me and I also had a blister on the back of my heel so I decided to by new shoes the night before. I also had a wart on the ball of my foot that was really bugging me, but I couldn't get it removed because it was too close to race time and I wouldn't be able to run on it. Also, I NEVER get diarrhea and right before I did, (Seriously, what the H? the universe was working against me!) sorry for all the details. Anyway, the day of the race came (April 4th) it was snowing and freezing cold. My goal was to make it to the halfway point (6.55 miles) before I stopped to walk, I felt pretty good that I made it 7.5 miles before I stopped, my knee started to hurt at mile seven, but I walked only short periods. It was funny I kept singing songs in my head like, "I'm a survivor, I'm gonna make it, I'm a survivor, keep on surviving, I'm not, gonna give up , I'm gonna work harder!" and I also sang the ABC"S and head shoulders knee's and toes ( I think I need to get an MP3 player!) This is also where old ladies and really heavy people started to pass me and I seriously couldn't keep up with them, it was pretty discouraging, and motivating at the same time. When I got to mile 11 I stopped to shake my leg, to see if I could make the pain go away in my knee and I made it worse I didn't think I was going to be able to walk, I was mad at myself, because I knew I wouldn't be able to make my goal of 2 hours and 15 min, but I didn't want to do any permanent damage so I took it easy and ran carefully and somehow was able to cross the finish line. I made it in 2 hours 33 mins and I felt okay with that considering I was VERY unprepared and I stopped for a bathroom break, dang poop, slowing me down! Now I am excited to try another one in August (hobble creek) it is supposed to be a good one to start out on because it is all downhill, so if anyone wants to do it with me, I would love it! P.S. Thanks Chellese for doing this with me, you rock (under 2 hours!) it was fun and painful, and I love you!