I did it!

I finished my 1st half-marathon this past weekend. Reflecting on the experience, I wanted to mention a couple of things I went through.
1- Pre-race jitters. I've taken lots of exams both written and oral, had interviews both one on one and group and I must admit that the anxiety I felt the night prior to the race was more intense than any of those experiences. I struggled to keep my thoughts positive, but the things that worked were reminding myself of my training and also I used the mantra "I get to run." I also used distraction that night, I had a good book, a fun magazine, did some knitting, watched a movie. My advice especially if you are away from home is to make sure you bring plenty of distractions with you.
2- The unexpected. So for my 1st half-marathon it was pouring down rain throughout the race. How do you deal with this? I must admit if it is raining I train indoors, so this was a challenge. Along with this I found out my Ipod is NOT waterproof. So no motivating music for 13.1 miles. Positive self-talk was how I dealt with this, and once I was with thousands of people running with me the rain even seemed fun. Music would have been nice, but I realized running a long-distance lets you experience a city in a new way or for the 1st time. I found myself enjoying just looking around.
3-Unhelpful comments. I'll only mention this briefly because the best way to deal with negativity is to ignore it. If you let the comment get to you it can be devastating. I've realized that you cannot expect everyone to be positive. Stick to discussing running with the running community and with people who are positive influences in your life.

My overall experience was a good one and I've signed up for my 2nd half-marathon later this summer.

"I get to run!"