Half Marathon #7

So happy this is a yearly tradition in my life.  I wish I could say I run year round but I always seem to get busy in the winter.  But for some reason every July or August I agree to train for an October race (in the blazing summer!!).

This was a new one for us since we didn't love Corpus Christi last year.  We went to Austin for their Halloween half.  It was awesome! We definitely want to go back although the timing is terrible and we are all always struggling to get away!

But we managed to and had a fantastic trip.  It was a good race even though each of us had something random come up.  Sickness, injury, too busy for last 2 weeks of training, etc... Curtis and I were in the middle of a serious detox so I wasn't eating much except for vegetables, fruit and oats.  But we all had a good race and yes stopped by "In N Out" on the way home.  I forgot my detox for the day and yum it was good.  I love those ladies.  Such a positive, kind , talented group of women.  I sometimes forget and take for granted how blessed I am to be constantly surrounded by women who are not catty, who think deeply about important issues, who aren't the jealous type and don't take themselves too seriously.  So grateful I get to be around them all.  :) 

My First Race

So the Half Marathon is over and it was pretty awesome. It's crazy because about a month before the race I was seriously regretting that I had signed up. My 7 and 8 mile runs were both horrible. I think my girlfriends actually made a huge difference. They were so positive and made running so fun with our good chats. Anyway, two weeks before the race we ran 10 miles and that was the last long run. I was a little bit nervous but when the actual weekend came I felt pretty good. I have to say that there is something empowering about accomplishing a difficult task that you never thought you could do. I know it's cliche but it really makes me wonder what else I'm capable of but not confident about.


Anyway, it was a great time. I mean when else can you:

1) eat the best Italian dinner ever

2) have inspiring religious discussions

3) burn 1500 calories

4) talk kids, boobs and politics

5) celebrate with a trip to "In 'N Out" which -gasp- is possibly better than Culver's

6) get a medal (b/c everyone gets one!!)


7) catch up with an old high school bff

It was good. I love that a girls weekend away can be healthy and inspiring! I hope to do another one soon.

(WHO is this man? We were so hungry and tired we didn't care... :)

Running

Welp! It's 8 months later and I'm still running. I cannot believe it. Really. I remember back in college when I worked at Great Harvest. A lot of my coworkers and our customers were runners and they would always be talking about it. I thought they were braggy and sadistic. :O The few times I had tried running were pretty much torture. Then I decided somewhere along the way that running couldn't possibly be good for you b/c of all the stress it causes on your joints, not to mention that juggling of your organs part.

I had no intention of ever running as a hobby or even for exercise but it has honestly become a huge happy part of my life. I really can't believe it. And now I totally get why people talk about it so much! It's a little bit life changing!

It actually started right after Lucy was born when a few friends and I decided to walk 3 times a week. We would walk for about an hour in the morning and then let our kids play at the park. I got to know several awesome women from church and really looked forward to our time together. Actually as a side note, this is when I stopped hating Texas. Coincidence? :O

Anyway after a year of walking, a couple of my buddies moved away and a couple more had babies. But I also found that walking was making me restless and I was sort of fighting the urge to run. So I started run/walking with the boys to school. It was okay and I liked that I was working out while getting my kids where they needed to be. I'm all about consolidating.

Then two things happened. The first was that I read some of the book "Born to Run." Not sure if I even believe all his crazy adventures and not sure I have any interest in trying the five finger shoes. BUT... he reminded me how much I loved running as a kid. I mean, I loved it! My best friend Cheryl and I were the only girls in elementary to not join the safety patrol because we could not bear to miss recess. Ever. We played with the boys every day and I wasn't even really boy crazy yet! Games like Jailbreak, Cops and Robbers and tag of course. The book also stressed that running is very natural for humans and we're designed for it. I serioulsy had not sprinted as fast as I could in years and I wanted to feel that again. So then my awesome friend Jen told me I needed to get serious. So I did my first 3 miles ever. It was horrible and took me 37 minutes. But I was proud of myself for making it. I started running 3 times a week with a longer run on Saturdays and was amazed at how much easier it got with each run. About half the time I run with friends and it's so great to talk and laugh while we're getting some exercise.

I've also decided that I am not a treadmill person. Tried that a few years ago and detested it. Running outside makes all the difference. I'm a nature nerd and love looking at the trees and flowers or stars and sunrises. It puts me in a great mood. I kept thinking all summer long that I would probably stop running in the ridiculous heat and humidity but I really didn't want to. This was maybe the hottest Texas summer ever so I pretty much had to run at 6am or 8pm but that actually worked out. It will be so strange to run in cool weather. I'm thinking I'll like it. :) I also think it's sort of interesting to map out different trails and time myself to see how fast I can go. I'm not fast btw. The other thing I love about running is that I get a serious high afterwards. Yes I'm sore but I feel great and motivated.

For the first month I had some aches and pains. My IT band gave me a little trouble but two things seem to work for that. 1) I stretch it out using this big tube pillow that Curtis uses for his back and 2) I have to run 3 times per week. If I let 5 or 6 days go by without running my whole body complains. The good news about that is that it's helped me to stay consistent- which is pretty much a first as far as exercise goes for me.

So long story longer I'm signed up for a half marathon in a few weeks. I'm pretty nervous b/c I don't want to feel the pressure of everyone watching while I run... but I'm going with a bunch of cool girlfriends and my BF, Lou from high school is gonna be there too. We are so excited to just talk and catch up! I'm following the Hal Higdon Novice to Half Marathon plan and just did my first 9 mile. It went great. I cannot believe it! I've found that if I drink and eat really well the day before, get a decent sleep and have a banana with peanut butter before the run it goes very well. I also bought some energy fruity snacks and eating those halfway through gave me some energy. Haven't figured out the best way to carry water yet. Working on it...

Someone asked me if I was still in the honeymoon phase of running. That sort of bummed me out b/c I'll be sad if I just stop liking it one day. But three of my good friends here have all been running for years and said they all still love it! So there's hope. Wish me luck on the race. :)