I did it! 13.1 Miles!

About ten miles in.

Last weekend I completed my second half marathon.  I'm not going to lie, this meant more to me than just running 13.1 miles.  A couple of months ago I saw one of my family members sign up for the OC Maryland Island to Island 1/2.  I saw the date was in April 2016.  At that time I was still breastfeeding my son, working full time, and of course being a mom and wife.  I learned from my first child that I didn't have the will power to commit to running while breastfeeding and pumping.  My goal was to breastfeed Andrew until he was a year old, so that meant January 2016.  I breast fed Andrew until about March, but I started getting back to working out and training around February, so an OK amount of time!  And little did I know, that when I signed up, I was going to have two co-workers out on maternity leave around the time I needed to be training for this 1/2.  I didn't do the best training, I could have tried to do more speed work, I could have done more cross training, but I did the best I could with the time I had. 

I was feeling it here! Can't you tell?

Crossing the finish line for me wasn't about just finishing 13.1 miles running, it was about celebrating me breastfeeding my second child for over a year and celebrating me finding the motivation to get myself back in shape.  I shared my body with my son for over a year between breastfeeding and pregnancy, now it's my turn to have my body back.  It's time for me to continue showing my children how to live an active life.  Running has also helped me to embrace my new post-baby body.  I actually gained 5 pounds once I started running again!  There will be a time where I'm ready to lose these 20 pounds I'm still holding onto since before becoming pregnant with Andrew, but it's not right now.  Right now I run for me, not to lose weight.

As a freshman in high school I tried out for soccer, but I didn't make the team.  The cross country team was willing to take on new members, so I thought I would give it a try.  I was never the fastest runner, and I was always ok with.  I continued with cross country and track the rest of high school.  I never knew what I gift it was not to make the soccer team and to learn the joy of running.  It hasn't been easy getting back to running after taking off for over a year, but I knew it would get better, and it has!  Exercise soothes my soul.

I finished in less then 2.5 hours, my goal!  It wasn't easy, my legs hurt, but when that happened, I ran with my heart.  This run was for me!

As an added bonus, hubby did the 1/2 marathon too! Joe says we distance runners are a special kind of crazy.  He's probably right. 

Love him!

 I signed up for another 1/2 marathon in September.  I think I developed peroneal tendonitis from increasing my distance too quickly, so my goal is to do more cross training the month of May and pick up more miles come June.  We'll see how it goes!