Half Marathon Recap

The half marathon was much better than I ever imagined it would be. Mike and I ran 13.1 miles in 02:07:01 and are actually considering running another one someday...just not anytime soon. The first half of the race was great! We both felt great, we were maintaining a much faster pace than we had expected (about 9 minute miles) and hit the halfway mark at 57:40. However, it went a little downhill from there. Mike was great, he was a trooper and kept encouraging me and checking up on me. We agreed when we signed up for the race that we would stay together the entire time since it was a long race and our only goal was to finish. We prepared fairly well for the race considering we weren't sure what to expect. We carbed-up on Friday night, ate a high-energy breakfast, drank some water, and bundled up with our energy gummies in Mike's pockets (it was 40 degrees and I had no pockets). Unfortunately between mile 7 and 8 things went downhill when I started experiencing bouts of dizziness, followed by occasional muscle spasms in my calves. My energy levels suddenly dropped and the last 4 miles were rough. It turns out I was incredibly dehydrated and discovered that I need to carry water with me if I run another half marathon. We're pretty sure that we would have finished right under 2 hours if it hadn't been for my hydration problems.

Needless say, WE FINISHED!!! We are so happy and proud! Here is us right before the race started.

 Now we are going to focus on 5k races for the summer, which we will run on our own since its more about time. However, it appears that I hurt my knee somehow during the race and I currently can't run farther than 2 miles because of the pain running causes me. Thankfully it didn't hurt at all when I worked out with my trainer today (and we hit pads (like kickboxing) and did squats and abs). So I will be looking for cardio alternatives until my knee heals, which is sad because I love running.

This has been a tough week for my self-confidence. Taking it easy and carbing-up all of last week really took a toll on my body image. It has been hard for me to continue to push myself to stick to a healthy eating routine and not fall back into my old habits of eating like a rabbit. I am considering buying a membership to this nutrition plan that includes recipes and guidelines and tools to help you make healthy choices and makeover your lifestyle. I think the structure would be good for me personally, just to have something to follow that is fairly specific and that offers a variety of recipes. Not only do they focus on more basic, raw, healthy foods, but foods that are full of energy for your body. I haven't decided yet, its kind of expensive. I want to make sure it is worth it before I buy it.

I saw this picture with a saying on Pinterest yesterday that made me chuckle. Its might be slightly inappropriate, but amusing and true nonetheless.