One hour, 58 minutes and 47 seconds. That’s how long it took me to finish the Pittsburgh Half Marathon, and I couldn’t be happier!

Anxious about the day ahead, I popped out of bed with my alarm at 3:45 a.m. After getting dressed, packing a few last minute things and eating breakfast, I was out of the house in just under an hour. I took the T into town (my first time—woo hoo!) to avoid a parking nightmare and save myself some unnecessary stress and was in the city around 6:15—bright and early! My parents, sister, boyfriend and his mom were all downtown to cheer me on.

This is just one of my loyal groupies!

Since my friends and I arrived so early, I killed most of my time hanging around with my family. I even showed off my fake tattoo, which thoroughly freaked my mother out for approximately half a second.

13.1, baby!

The race’s official start time was 7:30 a.m., but I didn’t cross the start line until about 7:40. I stuck with my friend Kate for the first 10 miles or so, until she had to stop for a bit because she rolled her ankle (yet she still managed to finish in two hours!). Thanks to her help, my (official) average pace was 9:04. Though these don’t quite match up with my official time, here are the splits my GPS tracked:

• Mile 1: 7:48
• Mile 2: 9:24
• Mile 3: 8:48
• Mile 4: 8:55
• Mile 5: 8:34
• Mile 6: 8:29
• Mile 7: 8:22
• Mile 8: 8:24
• Mile 9: 8:59
• Mile 10: 8:47
• Mile 11: 8:59
• Mile 12: 9:29
• Mile 13: 8:51

Like I said, those splits aren’t accurate—just look at my first mile! Hearing my time every mile through my iPhone app helped to motivate me throughout the race, especially after I lost my running buddy. Knowing that I had 15 minutes to run my last mile in order to hit my sub-two hour goal definitely put a smile on my face, too!

I’m not sure what was yelled to get my attention for this photo, but it looks like it definitely confused the runners around me.

All in all, completing a half marathon was one of the most satisfying accomplishments of my life. Sure, the training was tough, I suffered a minor injury and I even had one of my toenails fall off last night (sorry, I had to share), but it was all worth it. I’ve even signed up for another half marathon—I just hope my groupies will be there to see me run in it!

 Thanks for cheering me on!

Are you a half marathon runner? What are some of your favorite races?