The first time...

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Day 28

The First Time I...

Write a post about the first time you did something. What is it? What was it like? What did you learn from it?

The first time I...

Ran a Half Marathon.

I traveled to Kona, Hawaii with Train to End Stroke. After 4 months of fundraising and training (well sort of), I headed across the country with a few friends, and the rest of the TTES team. We headed over a couple days before the race, the Kona Half Marathon. 

In the days leading up to the race, my friend M was unbelievably nervous. She kept telling me she felt like she would throw up, I told her we would kill it no problem. On the inside I was unbelievably nervous, but I put up a confident face for her.

On race morning, we got up early and put on our TTES gear and met the group in the lobby. After riding over in vans to the race site, we got a scope of how small the race was. So small, that the TTES group was at the very front! I don't remember any elites, no waves, nothing elaborate like most races I did after. My nerves were making me a little nauseous, I had skimped on training and I knew it. Our plan was to run when we could run, walk when we needed to walk, and finish no matter what.

The small size of the race, left us many times by ourselves or with only 1 or 2 other people in sight. The ocean views were beautiful, the desert like views not so much. Seeing our TTES leaders, and the stroke survivors that accompanied us on the trip cheering us on was inspiring to keep going. I kept a bandana tied to me with names of all the stroke survivors that I was running for.

2 hours and 47 minutes later, after a bit of a struggle we crossed the finish line! I had never felt more proud of myself! For raising all the money to help stroke education and support, and for finishing something I never thought I would.

Somehow I knew there would be more in my future!

What was your first time like?