Fit Mama: Half Marathon

As you probably already know, I ran my half marathon a couple of weeks ago! It was such a great experience. I finished in 2 hours and 10 minutes, and I ran the WHOLE thing. :) I was really proud of myself. I finished about where I thought I would time wise.

For me this felt like a huge accomplishment because it wasn't *just* a race. It was almost symbolic of me taking back who I am. For the first year or so after the girls were born my entire world was taking care of the girls. It wasn't a bad thing and it was certainly necessary, but I definitely did not have the time or emotional energy to invest in taking care of myself. Training for this race and completing it signified my ability to fulfill my role as a mom while also making time to do something that I enjoy doing. There was also a tiny bit of feeling like this race was my "redemption race". The last time I ran the shamrock half I totally hauled it the first half of the race and had to walk a good portion of the last half. I still finished in under 2 hours (uh, what?), but I still felt bummed because I didn't accomplish my goal of running the whole thing. It's probably al little dumb, but it felt good to say I ran the whole thing-- even if my pace was slower.

I'm definitely planning on doing another half-marathon. Brad signed up for one in September and I'm contemplating doing one in mid-november. My next challenge though is completing the Insanity workout. I'm down 45lbs total and I'm only 15lbs to my goal weight! It's definitely coming off more slowly lately but it's always those last 10-15lbs that are the hardest. I'm hoping Insanity will help me blast through it.