On Sunday, December 9th, I ran another 1/2 marathon (my third race-two halves and a full marathon).
(pre-race pic with my hubby and sister. of course, Julie and I had to match and coordinate with Jared)
I used to run all the time.
When I was around 5th grade, I started running with my dad at the track.
In jr. high and high school, I ran track and cross country. Don’t look me up. I ran to stay in shape, not necessarily to compete :)
And I’ve been running all these years, until I started IVF treatment. Then, I had to stop.
A little over two years later, think July 31st, I picked running back up and decided I wanted to train for another 1/2.
My sister, her husband Jerrod and my husband (never having run before) decided we should all do it together.
(Jerrod, Julie’s husband, decided mid August, this whole running a half wasn’t for him) :) he’s the smart one!
Not gonna lie, starting to train for a half, in the middle of a hot summer, very out of shape, was not my best idea.
But instead of the usual 12 weeks it would take to train, I figured I needed a few extra weeks months!
Now that I have kids, it makes training very hard.
Either, they come with me and I have to push the BOB on my route or I wake up super early, when it’s dark and scary out, and run.
I mainly took the boys with me on my routes.
Except Saturdays, which were my long runs, Jared would babysit while I ran, and vise versa.
I only missed three days of training because of stomach bug hitting our whole family.
We ran 5 out of 7 days a week.
I was committed and determined.
Anyway, I decided I run the best in cold weather, which was the weather for my previous races, and the worst in hot/humid weather (every day in Dallas, TX).
The morning of the race, it was
100% humidity and 71 degrees!
Really?
Even though I drank water all weekend, who am I kidding, I drink it all the time, I was still dehydrated.
I don’t ever carry water when I run. In fact, in my full marathon, I might have had a sip of water in all the 26.2 miles.
(at the starting line- oh, and we met up with Julie’s friend, Lexi too)
But, in this particular race, at Mile 2, when I saw the ambulance loading people up on stretchers, I knew I had to stay hydrated and drink as much water as possible.
The first 5 miles weren’t bad at all.
Besides the usual weaving in and out of the crowds of people, it was good.
Mile 6, my music quit playing. Grrr
Mile 8, I was super thirsty and sweating a lot!
Mile 9, I started getting chills and dizzy. Not a good sign
Mile 10, not sure I was going to make it.
Mile 11, Jared continued to encourage me and bring me water while I was running.
Mile 12 to Mile 13.1 was the longest 1.1 miles of my LIFE!!!!
But I made it.
(We all did)
Dehydrated and all.
Was walking a choice for this stubborn girl? NO way. Not after I had been training all these months.
I pushed through and prayed a lot!
I finished 10 seconds slower than my first half (5 years ago).
I know I was dehydrated, and I’m old, and have kids (who sometimes keep me up at night), but wow, it was a little tougher this race.
My sister and Jared did AMAZING, by the way, especially for their first race!!!
I was so proud of them!
Thanks to Jared for literally pulling me across the finish line.
(Honey was too busy with the boys to take pictures of them while we were racing) :)
Thanks to Honey for staying home and babysitting the kiddos.
Thanks to my dad and Jerrod for coming and cheering us on!
The rest of the day, after my much needed shower, I chose to lay in bed and wait for the aching and cramping of my body to be over.
Monday morning, I felt like a brand new woman!
Cowtown 1/2 2012, here we come!
