Saturday, June 20, 2015

That Day I Ran a ½ Marathon! BAM!!!

I meant to write this last weekend. Was it really only a week ago that I ran my first ever ½ marathon?! Yes you read that correctly...I RAN a ½ MARATHON! 

It was epic!

Here are pictures to prove it:


Before the race I met up with two of my biggest supporters. My former principal and my current assistant principal. Jon and Aliscia are seriously the BEST! Jon is a rockstar runner. No pun intended (it was the Rock 'n' Roll ½). He runs a LOT and SUPER FAST, but he's been cheering me on throughout my training, no matter how slow I am. And Aliscia has been incredible. Encouraging me along the way with her own training. She ran the Tinker Bell ½ in Disneyland Mother's Day weekend and then decided to go for the Rock 'n' Roll in June. I am SO glad we got a quick pic before we hit the starting line!


Hilary, Karla and I living it up before the race started. Both girls have been the BIGGEST blessing to me. Both have had miscarriages and loved me as I've slowly worked through my healing. I ran with both during my training...especially on the long runs...and can honestly say that I wouldn't have made it without them.

Funny story. A race worker asked me to hold our "corral sign" which was slightly awkward (especially when random people came to me with their questions because I looked "official"). It took us about 45 minutes to actually make it to the start, but because I had the sign we were literally at the front of our corral line and got to cheer and count down from the very front of our group. It was EPIC. Maybe you had to be there...but Hilary, Karla, a random guy from Florida, and I can attest to the fact that it was a fun way to start. Even if the wait was long.



My whole family came to cheer me on. Seriously BLESSED! Especially by that sweet/hilarious boy!


There's the finish line :)


Karla and I loved the cheering squad just before the finish line. I shaved my armpits that morning, just to make sure I was fresh for the fist-pump photos! I guess I wasn't really making fists in the picture, but man did it feel good to be within a stone's throw of that finish line.


Just a few more yards and we were DONE! BAM. Nailed it! :)


Post race. Completely drenched in sweat, but still smiling. I think we may have smiled our way through all 13.1 miles. It was a glorious day: sunny, breezy, and even though there were some hills, they were gradual. Plus the route was filled with GORGEOUS views!


The two men in my life cheering me on! Josh gave me a huge hug...and Harry kept saying "My Mommy WON!" :) 


I happened to be standing right next to two college friends in the recovery area. They ran it too and we couldn't resist taking a picture together. Of course Harry wanted in on the action.


Dad, Mom, Griffin, Josh, Patti, Ashley, Gigi, Harry and I. This was right before we gorged ourselves on the most delicious breakfast ever. French toast, eggs, and sausage. I was hungry after running for almost three hours! ;)


Not sure why my app said I ran 3.79 miles, but whatever. Also there was a brief bathroom break (or two) during which I forgot to stop my watch. I think we actually finished in 3:45. But who's counting.


We started and finished strong!!!



You better believe I took a nap that afternoon! I think I ended up with just over 35,000 steps total that day. My knees and ankles were so sore for about 24-hours, but after that I felt pretty good.


And here is the current resting place of my medal. Right above my computer so I can see it whenever I'm working here in my craft room. I'm not sure where its final resting place will be, but you better believe I'll be running another race in the future. Not sure exactly when (maybe the Fall?!?!)

.    .    .

Thanks to everyone who has rooted for me along the way. It has been such an incredible journey, both physically and figuratively. God put it on my heart to run, He gave me His strength to do it, and the race was honestly the icing on the cake. It felt like a glorious gift from my Loving Father. He knew I needed to do this training. He knew I desperately needed to rely on Him throughout the process, to surrender to Him in my weakness, and to accept the strengthening/healing of my body, my faith, and my heart that only He could have given me.

He is certainly a GOOD Dad who loves His kids. I can call myself blessed because of Him...not because of anything I have done!

So there you have it. 

My ½ marathon is done, but it is definitely one of the top 5 moments of my life! 

Even with the pictures and my attempt to describe the experience in words, I can't really do it justice. 

You'll just have to take my word for it, and maybe sign up for a race with me...so you can experience it for yourself! :)

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