Our first half marathon!

I’d be the first to say that listening to people’s recountings of their fitness endeavours is boring as all heck. BUT, I’d also tell you that when people meet a new and exciting goal, then they should have permission to talk about it.

Gryffindor in front, Hufflepuff behind
Get sorted into your house

A few weeks ago, we signed up for the Sirius Half Marathon, a virtual run being organized by Hogwarts Running Club. We’d never done a half marathon before, but we figured, “why not?” Then, later on, we thought about how long that run actually is. Then about how we were totally unprepared for running a distance that long. Then we thought about how many seawall loops that is (two and change.) The recommended date for the run was June 18th, but since we were already booked for that day, we picked another one that worked for both of us, booked it off work and threw caution to the wind.

by the numbers

1. Times I dropped my phone, didn’t even notice then turned around to find an older gentleman angel carrying towards me.
2. Sunny and sudden rainfalls that felt like they were sent from the heavens.
3. Hours it took us to complete our half marathon.
4. Pieces of pizza we rewarded ourselves with when we were done. (Two each, to be clear.)
5. Minutes left on the meter when Kevin spotted the parking officer checking valid payment. (He – the officer, bless his soul – kindly gave us a pass when Kevin ran by him explaining that we were 1km away from finishing our half marathon.)
6. Electronic devices we would have willfully sabotaged if they’d only opened the gates to the pool at Second Beach. (Two Fitbits, two iPhones, two pairs of BeatsX.)
   
7. Kilometre when I really hit my sweet spot and felt on top of the world.
8. Minutes – my average pace per kilometre today. 8:26 to be exact.
9. Photos in my Sirius Half Marathon album on Facebook.
10. Approximate distance in kilometres around the Seawall. We did it twice
11. Temperature when we started running.
12. Kilometre when my sweet spot started to feel like a very distant memory.
13. Equivalent number of miles we ran. (13.1 to be exact.)
14. Temperature when we finished running.
15. Half the pounds MyFitnessPal says I’d lose in five weeks if every day was like today. (THAT IS TOTALLY UNREASONABLE, MYFITNESSPAL.)
16. Percentage of battery remaining on my phone by the time we got back to the car.
17. Kilometre mark when I realized we could actually finish this thing.
18. Hundred calories burned.
19. Approximate number of times I internally screamed at the top of my lungs, “GET OUT OF THE WAY” while groups of tourists and lollygaggers blocked the path.
20. Approximate number of photographs ruined when one or both of us ran between a photographer and a tourist cheesing for the camera.
21. Kilometres in total. (21.1 to be exact.)

we ran 21.1 kilometres today!

Want to join us on the Sirius Half Marathon? Registration is still open until June 18th!