Dallas Half Marathon!

About 6 weeks before the Dallas Half Marathon, I was talking to a Mom from Presley and Bentley's school and she mentioned she was running int he Dallas Half and asked if I would want to do it. Right away, I said NO WAY. I trained to run the Dallas Half back in 2007 and I got injured and couldn't run it. The most I ran was 9 miles and I decided that anything over 5 miles is a beating on my body. However, I kept thinking about it all day. I hadn't been super happy at the gym lately and I had been running more often. I thought it would be a cool goal, so I decided to sign myself up. Once I paid the money there was no turning back.

Most people train for months. I looked up a training schedule and decided I could fast track the training and fit it into my current workout schedule. It consisted of 3 runs per week. Two short and one long. It also had cross training twice per week and a stretching day and a rest day after the long run. I already trained on Monday and Fridays and did yoga on Saturdays so that was easy. I did my long runs on Tuesdays while the kids were in school and my short runs on Thursday and Saturdays. Between runs there was sickness, Thanksgiving break, and some rainy days. I was also nursing two injuries so cut down on my number of runs the closer the race came. Presley and I went downtown to pick up my race packet. Once I got the bib, I knew it was real.

I rode down to the race with a neighbor so that Mikey could meet me after the race. The weather was in the 50s and raining which I didn't mind. I would much rather run in the cold and rain than hot and humid. I purposely didn't use my running app during the race because I didn't want to put pressure on myself about my time and just wanted to have fun and to finish. A special thanks to my sweet friend Hilary who stood with her kids at mile 8 in the cold and the rain. I was getting so tired and it was just the boost that I needed! Another big thanks to my husband who was standing at the finish line waiting for me! It meant the world to me that you were there!!

So, I did it. I finished a Half Marathon!! 13.1 Miles!! I am so excited that I did it. It is a very cool accomplishment to say that I ran a Half Marathon at 35. It will probably be my one and only, but I can definitely mark it off of my bucket list!!

Thanks to Grammy and Grampy for watching the kids so that Mikey could be with me. The kids made me a fun sign for when I got home.

After the race I had so many emotions. I had so much adrenaline going through my body, yet my physical body was so tired. I thought I would be starving and I wasn't. Running is physical but it is so much more mental. The race was so fun. Despite the weather, there were people cheering on every corner. I feel that it is therapeutic to run by myself. I think because I have so much chaos in my life that it feels good to have some time to myself. Even though I didn't use my running app, the race did track my run. So for those of you that just have to know my time...I finished in 2 hours, 29 minutes and 38 seconds. My time included a bathroom break, walking the water and gatorade stations, giving Hilary a hug and saying hi, and running backwards on mile 12 to someone that injured themselves to make sure they were ok. That will take some creative math to figure out my minutes per mile. I am happy that I finished. I accomplished my goal and am very happy.