Our First Half Marathon

A few months ago a friend of ours was trying to talk me into doing a half marathon with her.  I can't say that running is my thing, and I'm very slow, and I have never run more than 3 miles at once so I was hestitant to agree to do it. But I did need something to motivate me to work out more often so I decided to start following a training schedule and if I didn't die along the way then I would do the race.  I talked Abe into training with me so I could have even more motivation.  It turned out to be a lot more fun than I thought.  Each week it was kind of fun to run futher than I had ever run before.  But it was a lot of hours on the treadmill.  Thank goodness for cable tv at the gym on each treadmill or I might not have made it through some of those long runs.  And thank goodness for an amazing husband that did it with me even with his long days at work and being so busy!  It was really great to have someone to complain to who was going through it with me.

Here we are right before the race started. Our friend's husband and kids were there and tooks some pictures along the way so it was fun to try and figure out where he would show up next.

Me and my wonderful friend who talked me into running.  She is such a strong woman to take on a half marathon at 26 weeks pregnant.  As a veteran half marathon running she was a great resource and so fun to run with.  

 Don't be fooled by the smile or the flat landscape in the background.  I was dying by the end. All the reviews on the marathon talked about it being a hilly course and it really was.  Mile 11 felt up hill the whole way.  After training on a treadmill the hills were my biggest fear so I was excited that I could keep running the whole way even with the hills.

 Shala and I started out running together but went our separate ways eventfully but for most of the race I could see Abe in his bright red shirt in front of me.  It kept me moving a little faster than I might have done otherwise.

 Abe finishing the race.

Both of us just after we finished. I can't remember ever being so physically tired but it was a good time. Although I really didn't keep track of my pace the whole race I was excited to finish at 2:11. Since it was actually 13.4 miles it was right in line with what I was expecting.  And since my goal had just been to finish and not walk I was feeling pretty good.  Abe finished at 2:14.  We had talked about bringing the kids to watch us but enthusiasm for the race wasn't all that high from our children.  Ethan had a party to go to in the afternoon and he kept worrying that I would run so slow that we would miss the party.  He kept trying to talk me out of it by saying "You know you aren't going to win right?" I explained that of course I wasn't going to win but the fun was in doing something new and doing your best.  He didn't buy it.  I have raised a true realist. He did tell me that I might make it in 5th place.  Little did he know that even that would be impossible.