Wednesday, March 20, 2013

Shamrock'n Half Marathon Recap



Pumped and ready to run

Well, I did it! I ran my second half and set a new personal record of 2 hours and 32 minutes. That's eight minutes faster than my previous time and three minutes faster than my goal I set for myself. I couldn't be happier.
My Morning started off with a new pre race breakfast. Which is a big no-no. I've read it's best to stick to meals that your body is used to on longer runs to avoid an upset stomach. But I went with my gut and had a bowl of overnight oats and a banana that morning anyway. Luckily I had no problems. I just felt that I needed something a little extra that morning and a my usual peanut butter toast with sliced banana wasn't going to cut it.
We arrived downtown about an hour before my Hubby's start time (His start time was 30 minutes before mine- Speedster) and parked about a mile away from the start line to avoid traffic. It was nice though. We got to walk along the river as well as our wedding reception location and see the sun rise which was really cool.
Nice early Morning view of the Tower Bridge
Finally, it was race time and I was SO pumped, like kinda annoyingly pumped. I'm sure I was annoying my friends before the race with my enthusiasm and eagerness to start to the race, but I couldn't help it. I was ready!
The race started and I ran and ran and ran. At mile two one of my water bottles fell off of my water belt and I was going to leave it, until this nice guy came up to me a  few steps after and handed it to me. How nice was that?
At mile three I was surprised to see two of my girlfriends cheering me on. I wanted to stop and hug them both and tell them how grateful I was for their support. They had noise makers, a sign and their loud words of encouragement. I waved like crazy as I past them by and yelled "Thank you! I love you!" A few steps after I started to tear up a bit. I don't know why, but I become SUPER emotional when running.  It happened again later on. At about mile eight or so I had a moment of clarity. I decided that it didn't matter what time I finished because I was blessed enough to be healthy and able to be running that day, I thought about my son a lot and how blessed my husband and I are to have him and how lucky we are to be his parents. How blessed my Husband and I are to have jobs, a roof over our heads, our health...and then the tears come on. Again. That's one great thing about running alone, you get to just lose yourself in your thoughts.
At mile ten I began to get tired and that's when I saw my Dad and Brother. They were there right when I needed a pick me up. Their cheers and fist bumps were just what I needed to get me through the last few miles. That was also around the time I realized that if I continued the pace I was at, I was going to beat my goal time.
Finally I was approaching mile thirteen and crossing the bridge when I saw my Hubby. He was there cheering me on and began running with me. Ahh! I love that man! I knew he was tired so I told him I'd see him at the finish line. I began to run as fast as my tired, little, chubby legs could go. I started shouting at people as I ran past them, "We're almost done! Push it! We can do this!" (This is the running group in me. We're all SUPER supportive and encouraging) They must have thought I was nuts, but I didn't care. I was going to set a PR.
Finally, I crossed the finish line and stopped my watch. I looked up and saw my Dad, Brother and Husband cheering for me. I was so happy. I was finally done!

Before

After




 















4 comments:

  1. Love this! Got a lil emo reading it.. Lol, makes me think about being a runner.. Jus thinking... Haha, no but really, you're an inspiration for sure! Maybe one day ill b brave as you n run but till then ill always b cheering for you girl!!

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    1. If I can do it ANYONE can!! I can help! When ever you are ready, just let me know :)
      XO

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  2. Do you and your husband train together too? Damon ran track in HS/College and says it was enough running for a life time and won't train/race with me. :( I love the race pics of you and your husband!

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    1. Train together? Heck no. The man could literally run laps around me. LOL
      We usually take turns going out on our training runs. I go first while he stays home with Rocco and then we switch.
      It nice to have him to talk to though and share a hobby... even if we never actually run together.

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