Half Marathon Madness!

Half Marathon came and went. Feeling everything from ecstatic to pain to a sense of calmness, oh and not to mention, extreme hunger! I managed to get a good nights rest, woke up at 5:50 am, “suited up” and I was ready to go!

As the starting gun went off, I began the race feeling the “runners high,” feeling overwhelmed, I wanted to cry.  Being surrounded by runners and the rush of excitement, I was ready for this race. Overall, I think I did great. When I first decided to run this race, I anticipated a time of 2 hours and 20 minutes. I finished at 2:12 today. By the end of the race I was ready to finish and be done, at mile 13 I thought “there is no way I am going to do a full marathon.” Finishing a half marathon has been on my goal list for as long as I can remember. I think it started when my mom ran the 2009 New Orleans half marathon. At that time, it seemed impossible, but I had the gleam in my eyes…….one day. I’ve been running since I was 10 years old, my mom would drag me to all of her 5k races and I’d always end up running them too. I ran cross country in elementary, middle school and continued in high school. So today I felt like this race was something I was meant to do, something to check off my bucket list. 

Of course I can’t take all of the credit. I must thank some very important people, most importantly, my husband and my Autumn. My husband can finally get his wife back. I say that because my nights were cut short for early morning runs before work, instead of late night cuddling in front of the television.  Overall, it wasn’t an easy journey and with the motivation of my hubby and Autumn, I would have probably given up. I am looking to taking a running break and enjoying some downtime. I say that, but I give myself a week before I’m back on the pavement. The weekend was amazing, a few days of sleeping, relaxation and doing absolutely nothing. We decided to cancel our New Orleans trip and opt for a restful weekend, as much as I was looking forward to going, I am happy its just the three of us.
Dare I say, I am thinking of running the full 26.2 New Orleans Rock-n-Roll Marathon in February 2014.....