My First 13.1

The summer before Chadwick and I were married, I decided to train for and run a half marathon. I made it to 10 miles before the wedding...and the running never quite continued during the time before, during, and after the wedding, honeymoon, and second reception. In addition, good friends of ours were having their wedding reception the day of my chosen race. Given the fact that I dislike running long distances, it was an easy choice to make. No race for me that year!

The desire to remove the half marathon never quite made it off my bucket list, so I made a goal to run a half around the time Mallorie turned a year. Good excuse to run, good way to shed some of the post-baby weight and get myself out of the house. There were setbacks and colds, days of running when I didn't have the desire, days when running felt amazing. More days of foot and heel pain until I figured out that my running shoes were shot. The girls learned to spend large amounts of time without complaining in the stroller, Mallorie went from sleeping most of the run to squealing and talking alongside Morgan. Sweet Morgan would talk to me the whole run, then ask why I'd gone quiet during the last few miles. "Sweetie (panting), Mommy is tired and can't talk right now. Can you wait until we get to the car?"

February, starting to train

• Furthest distance run with the stroller - 7 miles
• Favorite training memory? -  Running with stroller and Darwin along the Greenbelt and having a woman walking the other direction give me mini-bows in an "I'm-not-worthy" style. =)
• Longest distance run by Darwin during training - 19 miles

Darwin was there through the entire process, often running two-a-days as Chadwick and I rotated running shifts in the morning before he went to work. Heaven forbid he should stay home while one of us went out. I did leave him home one morning (after he'd already been with Chadwick) and I could hear him barking and howling down for several blocks. 



On the bus!

We ran the Pocatello Half Marathon at the end of August. Nancy and Steve were kind enough to take the girls for a couple of days so we could have a little mini-vacation to ourselves. Dinner in Pocatello was with friends Friday night - pasta, of course - and the race started early Saturday morning outside town. A bus took us from the finish line to the starting point, where we met up with the marathon runners halfway through their course. The weather was perfect, chilly in the morning but warmer with the sunrise.

Finish time - 2:10 - exactly the time for which I had strived!!
Chadwick's finish time - 1:32 - slower than he wanted by two minutes, but he was able to win his age category anyway

We did it!

The rest of the day was spent resting, soaking in the hot tub, and eating a steak lunch. We went to Applebee's for dinner to watch part of the BSU game and wound up sitting at a table next to two men who'd started drinking as soon as their half marathon had finished. One was particularly drunk and inclined to argue, but we had a good time anyway. It was the first, and probably one of the last, times I've seen Chadwick sore from running!

People have said that once I ran a half, I'd have the itch for a full. Still waiting for that, and I think a 10K is my preferred distance....