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. ; )
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