Recap of my first half marathon

Before it began:
My cousin and race partner picked me up from my house that morning. I knew I wasn't going to be able to walk let alone drive myself home. It was pretty chilly because of the wind.  We got there with about 15 minutes before the race was to start and we still needed to stand in line for the restroom. We made it to the back of the group while the national anthem was playing and I was beginning to be really nervous. The tutus were a huge hit among the race already at this point!
So it begins:
At the beginning of the run Brad had me running 4 minutes and walking 2 minutes. I think this lasted for 2-3 miles before we had to drop it to 3 on 3 off. After a few more miles we dropped to 2 on 2 off.
Halfway point:
As we ran up to the halfway point I saw the cutest little boy in the prettiest little tutu supporting his momma. It brought tears to my eyes and maybe it pushed me to run a little harder.

Tallahassee Democrat Online

Slammed into the wall:
I couldn't run anymore past mile 10.5 I wore my Vibram Fivefingers for this race which I fully regret my stupidity already. I won't be doing another race like this in those shoes. At this point my feet were in so much pain. I was walking on grass when there was grass on the sides of the route. At mile 11.5 my left foot was on fire. I knew I was hurting but I knew who was waiting for me at the finish line so I had to push through it.
The end is near:
At about mile 13 we were back to the crowds and the finish line was visible (sort of). My son was there on the side of the route. My cousin ran up to grab him and I began to run again. That energy and strength came from thin air or something. I ran all the way across the finish line with my son.

Running across the finish line.

Overall thoughts:
I was really happy with my end results for the race. I finished in 3:48:23 which may seem like walking to most people but this was pushing it the whole time for me. I trained for this race in only a month, think about what I could have done if I had longer to train. This is one of the best experiences I have had recently. I can't wait to get back to training and work towards finishing my first marathon.

My medal, it was half of the marathon medal.