Post baby half marathon report.....

Well, I did it! I set out to complete a half marathon the year my daughter was born and it is DONE!! Was I fast, good grief NO! Was I running the whole thing, NO! Was a proud of myself sprinting through the finish as a first time Mom, YES!!!!!!

My family came to Texas for our annual family marathon relay. Some of the family did the relay, the others about 5 of us did the half. I ran with my aunt who is an amazing runner and she was kind enough to let me set the pace and run at my own speed. I trained to walk/run the race and I did just that. I started off strong and continued walking and running as planned until mile 8. That mile for some reason hit me hard. I continued on but at a slower pace. I started to feel like my legs where weak and I may be reaching my max. I did 13.1 miles a few weeks before the race so the distance was not a problem but I was running harder than I trained for. So I had to take more walk breaks than I wanted to at this point. My aunt went ahead at mile 10 and finished before me.

I remember at mile 12 I actually stopped to drink water and gatorade and I knew it was going to cost me big time but I needed the fuel even if it was for the last 1.1 miles. I was pouring water on my head to cool me off as I was just feeling so hot. It helped and I sprinted the last .20 miles or so. I really wish I could have ran the half marathon with NO walking but I will set this goal for my next half marathon which is January 29th! 8 weeks to go!!!! Hopefully I will be leaner and that will translate to a better knee! Any weight I can loose will help my knee considerably so I think I can do even better next time.

I finished the half at an official time of 2:24.35 though my Garmin was showing I ran 13.27 miles so I need to watch my zig zagging around the course next time. With the distance ran my avg pace was a 10:54 which I was very happy with considering I had to walk.

Here are my splits.....

Mile 1 : 11:34
Mile 2: 10:45
Mile 3: 10:33
Mile 4: 9:56
Mile 5: 10:36
Mile 6: 11:05
Mile 7: 11:12
Mile 8: 11:25
Mile 9: 11:13
Mile 10: 10:55
Mile 11: 10:42
Mile 12: 11:03
Mile 13: 11:02
.27 : 9:27

I have a ton of photos but they are all on my husbands camera and he is now overseas on business. I will have to wait til he comes back to post them. He made this race so very special for me. First at the expo he was getting me all kinds of goodies, then race day he was in tears telling how proud he was of me doing this. As I ran through the finish line I raised my hands in the air and it felt so amazing! Everyone was lining up to go inside to get their medals, water, etc...I stayed out on the other side of the fence to see my baby and there he was! He was SOOOO proud of me and said he screamed as I ran through the finish though I did not hear him as I had the Rocky theme playing loudly in my ears! He told me that he would wait for me outside of the building and I went inside super fast, got my metal but did not wear it, got my T-shirt and some water and headed out. No food, no photo with the race banner. I wanted to see my husband!!! When we saw each other I told him I wanted him to place the medal around my neck as he was a HUGE part of my training. He placed the medal around me with tears and it was a moment I will never forget.

After seeing the family we headed back to the car and to my surprise there was a big sign on the back of the car that he had made for me! He wanted to told it at the finish but due to the crowds this worked out to be a better option. We got into the car and he handed me the car keys and told me to open up the glove compartment. I did so only to find the most beautiful box. I opened it fighting back the tears only to find a card he made for me along with a Tiffanys box and inside was another charm for my Tiffanys bracelet he bought for me after our daughter was born 8 months ago. The bracelet is now a representation of all the wonderful memories of 2010, the birth of our daughter, my first Mothers day and my half marathon! I could barely read the card I was crying so hard. The level of his love for me was evident in his precious words, words that I will hold in my heart forever.

As so now I have 8 weeks to train ( injury free) for my next race. I am hoping to run more of this half and improve my time. I am going to try and loose as much weight as I can before the end of the year and then see where 2011 takes me! It is exciting to think about where I will be this time next year!

Thanks for all the pre race goodies and well wishes! I wish I could have ran faster but looking back I did my very best and for that I will be forever proud and my time was much faster than I thought it would be. Remember my blog before the race? I said I would be happy walking/running at 2:45!! I blew that goal out of the water by 21 mins and most of all I did not let having a baby stop me from reaching another goal and I got out there every day and trained as best I could, injuries and all!!

Here is my post race plan for this week......

Monday - Active rest
Tuesday - Active rest or light walk.
Wednesday - 4 mile walk
Thursday - 3 mile walk or XT at gym
Friday - 3 mile walk
Saturday - 6 mile long walk with a few light SLOW running intervals