I'm Half Impressed with Myself

One of my fitness goals was to become good/accomplish something impressive doing something I hated doing.  

I think the reason I thought this up was because I was in the prime of my Crossfit career and was getting good at the Endurance, Strength, and all the other challenges Crossfit presents. I was getting good at it because I was OBSESSED and I loved it.  And when you love doing something, chances are you will get good/better at it. 

So I thought it would be interesting to pick something I hated, and get good at it.  For me, that was running.  So I said, I want to run a series of races.  5k, 10k, 10 Miler, and a Half Marathon within a year. 

So I started training.  I planned out my runs, CF days, rest days, etc and I was doing really well.  It was hard, and I usually bitched before my run, but I did them.  I got all the way up to my 10 Miler and the very next day I found out I was pregnant.  I tried to continue my running, but sadly I was one race short of reaching my goal.  

Fast Forward to 1 year later.  

One COULD ARGUE that all I needed to do was complete a Half Marathon, but I decided to completely start over with my running goal.  So in 2013, I started planning out my training to ultimately get me to a Half.  

So after training started, I completed a 5k, 10k, and 10 Miler, with only one more race to run.  The Elusive Half Marathon.  Not just ANY Half, but the half I had signed up for 2 previous times and didn't bother to show up to.  

Now that I'm typing this, it makes a hell of a lot more sense to me why I was practically weeping when I crossed the Start Line this morning.  I trained, I showed up, and I was really going to complete this unfinished goal I had for myself today.  

No, I'm not Usually This Smiley at 5am

If you asked me how the first hour of running went, I would say, I blinked and it was over.  I kid you not.  And then things started to get a bit ugly. 

This Picture was Taken and then I Started Sucking at Running

So I loved the Philly Half Marathon Course, except after mile 8.  Just as you are starting to feel the burn of running for a while, Philly is like oh hey, here are like 4 hills in a row.  It just took so much out of me and by mile 10, I wanted to quit.

Not to mention, I'm pretty sure the Philly Half, is really the Philly Half Plus .40 miles.  (As per my RunKeeper app). 

I walked when I needed, and ran when I could and dammit I finished.  It took me a humble 2 hours, 19 minutes, and 16 seconds to finish and more than a year to complete my running goal.  

I couldn't have done any of it without my supporting friends (some that even sponsored me!) and of course my wonderful family.