Running

4:35:05, 4:10:34, 2:23:24 those are the times for my first 2 marathons and my half marathon.
yesterday I ran 10 miles in warmup for my next half marathon in Arizona and it took me 1:38:17 and it was a bit of a struggle but I finished my 10 miles and feel as ready as I will be for the half marathon on Sunday.

I remember training for my first marathon and how excited I was for the challenge of doing something new, dedicating myself to running 4 days a week for 4 months, eating right, not knowing what to expect, the thought of running and completing 26.2 miles. I followed my training program to a tee and had a GREAT first marathon, in fact I ran the 2nd half faster than the first!!!! I had so much energy after seeing my parents at the halfway point that when we hit the hills between miles 17 and 19 I was passing people!!!!!! i made it to the final water station and had about 3/4 of a mile to go and went into a dead sprint, I gave it everything I had, that was one of the best feelings of my entire life!!!! The whole 4 months of training, all the training runs, eating right, comments from people telling me i was crazy, all of it was worth it at that exact moment. I remember after the race meeting up with my parents and seeing how happy and proud of me my dad was, I will remember that day forever.

For the 2nd marathon I didn't train as hard but gave up alcohol for 130 straight days!!!! My sister and her husband & my friend were there to support me, I ran too fast in the first alf of the marathon (1:58:00) and ended up hitting the wall at mile 22, got to the point where I had to stop and walk for a bit, but I still managed to finish and shave 25 minutes off the time from my first marathon. This one was really satisfying because I hit the wall (which i had never done before) and I was still able to finish, it was a very good feeling crossing the finish line, not quite like the first one but close.

For the Denver half marathon I started to train a bit doing some runs here and there then I just lost motivation and did only one 3 mile run in the 6 weeks leading up to the race. On raceday I went down by myself and got pretty psyched for it. The first 6 miles were a breeze then it started to get a bit harder, by 10 miles I had to stop and walk frequently my legs started cramping up (again, another first) but I fought through it and ended up finishing in 2:23:24. This one was really rewarding because I didn't really train for it and I was able to finish it!!!! This was the biggest mental challenge out of any of my previous runs, there was no one there to support me, physically my body wasn't ready for it so I had to talk myself through the race, but I did it!!!!!!

One of the big things that helped me during the first 2 marathon's was the support that I had from friends and family. I know that it's pretty boring for them to sit there and watch a bunch of people running by but they have no idea how much it helps me to see them there supporting me, engouraging me, helping me to get through the race, I am so thankful for my parents going down to AZ for my first marathon, for my sister & Richard in SD for the second one. Thank you!!!!!! I don't think you'll ever realize how much your support means to me.

I'm so lucky to have Chinchilla in my life, she has brightened it up ever since she's been in it!! She is coming down to AZ with me this weekend for the race. It's going to be soooooo nice to have her there and I'm so excited to share this whole weekend with her. I want to thank her in advance for her support, she's been encouraging me to do my training runs, she's totally helped me to eat healthier and drink more water, so I wanted to take a moment to thank her for everything she's done so far and for the fact that she'll be there on Sunday to cheer me on.

Thank you baby, you're the BEST!!!!!!