13.1 Miles

"The miracle isn't that I finished. The miracle is that I had the courage to start." 

-John Bingham

12 weeks ago our team of four began training for the half marathon.  Having this goal to strive for and meeting up with these three ladies three nights a week was the best thing I could have done for myself. Getting out of the house and having a little night time grown up girl time after the days spent at home with Ayla was so good for me.  I have never liked or enjoyed running. Before training for this race the farthest I had ever ran in my life was right around 5 miles.  But getting to hang out with my girls made running fun!  We sure had a fun and memorable time training together.  It was quite a social.  We would alternate whose house we would run at each night and would begin with a good gab session for the first 20-30 mins before we started running, then we would run, and when we finished we stretched and would often times end up talking for another hour.  It ended up being an all night ordeal. 

 I loved it!  

This also worked out well because the 3 nights that I was out running allowed Chris and Ayla to have some one on one Daddy Daughter time.  He would take Ayla and Zuri out for an evening walk, feed Ayla dinner, give her a bath, have a little play time, and put her to sleep.  She would always be tucked in bed every night when I came home. 

It was so nice to be able to shower and relax when I got home and know that Ayla was well taken care of by her Daddy while I was gone.  My husband is the best Dad I could ever wish my children too have.  

I made such a good choice in marrying in him!

Race day Began Dec. 1st bright and early at 5am.  Well, it wasn't so much bright as it was still dark outside.

Me and Timmeri 

 And we are off!  Timmeri's husband Ryan met up with us at various locations along our race to cheer us on and take our pictures. 

Here is a map of our race.  The red line is the race course.  It started and finished in town by the stores where Chris works. The turn around point is up just past where we live, we literally ran right past our condo.  It was so far! 

This was taken at Ryan's first stop.  He met up with us at the intersection of South Sound and Walkers Road.  We ran together side by side just like this for the majority of the race.  

 Then Ryan met up with Chris and Ayla to cheer us on at the turn around point right outside our condo. 

 She was still a little bit sleepy. 

 I was so excited to see them!  I couldn't help but stop for a brief moment to give my little love bug a squeeze!

 

 Here was our support team waiting for us at the finish line, minus Chris who was taking the photo. 

 I was so glad to see that finish line!  I was one proud momma!

 Along the race, the first 8 miles went by pretty quick and pain free.  Around miles 9 and 10 it started to feel pretty hard.  I remember grabbing a cup of Gatorade at the mile 10 hydrate station and thinking it was the best thing I had ever drank.  My mantra to keep myself motivated was constantly reminding myself how much harder my labor with Ayla was.  If I was strong enough to last 48 hours of that, this should be a piece of cake.  It actually really helped to motivate me.  By mile 11 I had found my groove again and was able to keep pace right behind Tina till the finish line.   

Tina crossed the finish line first with me right behind her and then a few minutes later crossed Jessica followed closely by Timmeri to complete our team.  We all finished with in a few minutes of each other. 

Me, Timmeri, Jessica, Tina

Our team of four post our half marathon race, and I must say we all look DANG GOOD for just having ran 13.1 miles, dried sweat and all!

After the race they had complimentary fruit, food, water and Gatorade.  We all got complimentary massages and a stretch class, which was so nice!  

When we finally got home and the adrenaline wore off I was so tired.  I felt pretty worthless the rest of the day.  Today I am feeling much more energized. I have a blister on my toe and my legs are a little sore, but I feel a strong sense of accomplishment and pride in my success.  

It is a nice feeling, I hope to keep it around a little while longer.