I finished my first race of 2015 and my first half marathon since having Reaghan!

It was freezing waiting at the starting line at 6am until the race started at 7! But man I love the energy in the air at the starting line of a race!

I finished this half in 2:21... blah... a far cry from my fastest time but not quite my slowest time either! Can I pull the baby card and say it's a win for only being 6 months post partum???

I started off strong at a 10 minute pace with a friend, but since this wasn't what I had been running on my own, I started to feel it at about mile 6. I tried to keep up with Missy, but between miles 7-9 I slowly started drifting behind her and felt like if I tried to keep up I wouldn't be able to finish. (Maybe this was a cop out... Maybe I should've pushed a little harder?!? I should always push a little harder.) Missy tried to stay with me but I told her to go on and run whatever felt good for her and I would just do my own thing. I dropped to like an 11 minute mile and just finished the race at that pace. Not my proudest moment, but again... baby card?

At Mile 12, I grabbed some water as I ran through a water station and choked a little as I tried to drink and run at the same time. (My coordination astounds even myself sometimes.) Why am I telling you this? Because when I choked a bit, I coughed... and when I coughed, my lower abs felt like they were going to rip apart! OUCH! It really took me by surprise. Apparently my abs still need a lot of strengthening from being pregnant! They were really fatigued trying to keep everything (pelvis) stable during the run and I think by the end of it they couldn't handle to force of the cough. Yikes.

As always I was super happy to see the finish line and even more so today because my 3 sisters surprised me by being there at the finish to see me cross!



We went and got breakfast afterwards and then I headed home to my sweet husband and baby girl who were waiting for me there. (It was too cold to bring Reaghan out that morning to wait 2 hours for her mommy!)



I didn't train as much as I should've for this race, which was really disappointing. When I signed up for the race this past fall I thought for sure it would motivate me to get out and run and get back in shape - dropping $100 on an event usually motivates me to make it worth it! Unfortunately it didn't happen as I had hoped.  It is hard to find time to exercise with a baby! But let's just call that for what it is - an excuse! And really, there wasn't an excuse not to run or exercise. I had plenty of opportunities on the weekends when Mark was home and even during the week when Reaghan and I were hanging out with my siblings and mom - they would've been happy to watch her so I could go on a 30-45 minute run... Or even when she was taking a nap to do some strength training. I just wasn't really motivated to find the time. If I had, my time would have been a lot faster! But I'm happy with completing my first post baby half! I love getting back out there and running even if its slow. : )

Since the race did reignite some love for running, I am looking forward to warm spring days to take Reaghan and Piper out with the jogging stroller! I'm always working to get a little more in shape - a bit more healthy. And I'll also be beefing up my ab work outs. ; )