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This is me..about 2 months before giving birth to Travis.
Running a 1/2 marathon was even a thought in my mind! |
My sisters all think I'm crazy, because I do enjoy running and I actually don't mind excercising. The hardest part is getting going, but once I'm in my workout clothes and doing something, I generally enjoy it. I like the way my body feels after a hard workout, and my competitive nature makes me want to try to beat someone else's efforts (that can be a blessing and a curse!). But in training for my first 1/2 marathon, I lost track of how many times I doubted my ability to finish or wondered if I was crazy to even try. It's been 7 years since my running years of college cross-country, and 6 years of marriage, plus 4 kids in five years...let's just say, I had my doubts!
On Saturday, April 28, 2012, I ran my first one-half marathon! It was harder than I anticipated it being, and to be honest, I don't know if I'll ever run another...maybe someday? I think part of the problem of it seeming longer than 13.1 miles was the fact that there were only 107 runners in the whole 13.1 miles! So, everyone was pretty spread out and it was hard to feed off of other runners enthusiam. Usually, in a race, I have this great desire to try to catch "just one more person", but in this race, everyone was so far spread out that I just didn't have the energy.
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My friend and neighbor, Carolyn. Since the above picture, I've lost
57 pounds! |
I was thrilled when my neighbor and friend, Carolyn, agreed to run with me. She's run many half and full marathons and kept me encouraged and moving forward. She also carried a camel back and pulled something out about every two miles and ate! She ate an apple, fruit snacks, mints, gum, granola bars...and kept asking me if I wanted anything, "um, no, thanks. Pretty sure I'd be throwing up beside the road!" I hadn't trained with eating anything and on mile 7 the race assistants offered us some energy "goo". It was the most disgusting thing ever! I think, if I ever run another, I'll try training my body to eat while running, because I'm sure it would help my energy levels.
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| This was about mile 10 |
The weather was overcast and about 38 degrees. Then about mile 3 it started sprinkling, then about mile 5 it was sleeting a little bit. It did go back to just raining, but it was a long, cold run. On one hand, that was good because it kept me from walking! After I had already been sweating, I knew if I stopped and walked, I'd be freezing!
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| My two happy boys! |
My amazing husband and the boys cheered me on from start to finish. They followed the roads to various parts of the race and would all get out and cheer me on...I loved it! I have so many people to thank in the parts they played to help me reach this goal on my "bucket list". First of all, my husband, who is awesomely supportive and loves me even though he may think I'm crazy! And my parents, who watched the boys on occasions so I could get in another run. Also, my friend, Rebekah Longsine,
http://myweeklymenus.blogspot.com/ who also put up with last minute phone calls and almost always agreed to watch my kids so I could continue to stay on track. My wonderful friend, Jessica Gardner,
http://jessandrichard.blogspot.com, who trained and competed in a 1/2 marathon the week before me. I was challenged and inspired by her hard work in running a 1/2 marathon in the mountains of Colorado! And to all my friends, who encouraged, prayed, and strengthened my faith...from the bottom of my heart, THANK-YOU!
But, without Christ, I am nothing and ultimately the praise for this accomplishment goes to my heavenly Father, Jesus Christ. I have pushed my body farther than I thought possible, yet Christ gave me the strength to finish.
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| THE END!!! |
And how did I do? I was pretty please with the end results. My goal was under 2 hours and I finished in 1:54:50. I had a pace of 8:46, and I place 32 overall in the race, and I placed 8th out of 51 female runners. All in all, I was happy with the end results.
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| My amazing family...I am blessed! |
