No Quitting! Another Half Marathon!

I did it, you guys!  I completed another half marathon.

I signed up for the Timp Half again.  I signed up clear back in December because I knew, without a doubt, that I would want to run it again this year.  I swear I jinxed myself, because at the beginning of the summer I was definitely having (huge) doubts about running it.

I thought training with a newborn was rough last year.  Well, I dare say that training with a one-year-old has been much more difficult.  I felt like I was doomed this year.  Evie would wake up early, she would sleep late, Beau would have to be work by 6am, I got the flu, etc.!  I am not kidding when I decided that I was going to pull out of the race.  I'm not a quitter, but I am a realist and I know there are seasons for certain things and I figured that perhaps my season for running in such a dedicated manner was not now as a new mom.

Beau talked me into running one more long run to really see if this was something I wanted to pull out of.  I ran 8 miles one Saturday and I actually felt okay.  My pace was much slower than I've been used to, but I was able to pull the miles out without wanting to die.  So, I figured I had 3 choices.  1 - Pull out of the race and get my exercise doing other things that would better suit my family's schedule.  2 - Train hard no matter what.  This would mean waking up at 4am to get a run in if that's what my family's schedule would require for a certain day.  3 - Get in what I could and not stress about pace, mileage, etc.  I opted for option 3.  I new that if I could spit out 8 miles, I could run the full half marathon.  I just had to let go of any expectations of a personal record or, for that matter, even matching a previous time.  This is hard for me to do because I'm always trying to improve, but I did it and I tried to enjoy my training season without too much frustration.

Race day arrived!

Here I am at the starting line with my new friend, Claire.  She really helped me pull through this training season.  As miracles would have it, when I moved into my new house, there just happened to be someone in my ward who was signed up for the Timp Half too and needed someone to run/train with.  We did several of our training runs together and she helped me to get my miles in and improve my pace . . . since she's faster than I am.  She is my little running blessing this year!

I also made Amber (next to me) jump in for a photo too because this is the third year that we've both signed up for and completed this race.  Go us!   My sister-in-law's mom rode the bus up with us too and she's such a nice woman.  Thus, she's in the photo too (far left).

I really started getting super tired by about mile 10 and when mile 11 hit, I SERIOUSLY wanted to be done.  I had to take several walking breaks to finish those last 2 miles.  I was starting to get frustrated and remembered my initial goal.  I also put things into perspective and knew that my training schedule was difficult because I have a sweet one-year-old.  And you know what, I wouldn't trade her for ANYTHING and when this thought entered my head I was immediately fine with even walking those last 2 miles.  I didn't care anymore.  I didn't walk them, but I was okay in my mind and heart if that's what I ended up doing.

I made it to the finish line.  See, I even have a medal to prove it.  I was hoping to get this race done under two hours and I did. . . barely.  I got 1:59.  This is my worst time on this half, but granted, it's my worst training season too.  Go figure.

I even made it home for breakfast and Evie just had to wear my "pretty" medal while she ate her nannas and sausage.

I love this girl more than I love or care about running, pace or finish time.  She's worth every sacrifice in the world.