Why Another Half Marathon?

Two years ago, I decided to run my first ever half marathon with my mom, step dad and two of my aunts. We all signed up for the Get Lucky Half Marathon in the Twin Cities, MN. 

At the time, I was exercising with my mom (walking, biking, jogging) and then 1-2 times a week we would go to the Tri Fitness circuit class. I can only say good things about Tri Fitness and the classes they offer there. The classes are amazing- definitely hard and the next couple days you can't walk or move but it is so rewarding when you start to see your muscles growing!

Although I was exercising, my half marathon training slacked- BIG time. At the time, I was in Dental Assisting school and my boyfriend had just left for Europe for two months. I was stressed and overwhelmed and simply put off the training. Which I would never recommend. 

The day of the half, we all got our gear on and headed downtown. It was absolutely freezing that day, which just doesn't help anything! My nerves were uncontrollable because I knew I did not train and had never even ran over 4 miles before! (Stupid, I know!) The race began, and I was able to run about 4 miles and I had to walk. From there on out I switched off running and walking the rest of it. Thankfully I had such a wonderful support system with me- my mom and step dad. Even though they could have kept going and ran the whole thing, they stayed by my side pushing and motivating me to finish. I was so relieved to cross that finish line after approximately 3 hours and in so much pain. My feet had hurt so bad, I remember having like 4 huge blisters on my feet when I got home. My lungs were not prepared for the cold weather and the long distance. My legs felt like rubber. Literally everything hurt. I couldn't even walk down the stairs in my house for the rest of the day. 

Now, two years brighter and smarter I want to try and run another half marathon with a lot better training. I started my training in January 2015 and my race is August 2015. My runs started slowly and have progressively got harder and longer. A couple weeks ago, I ran 7 miles- never ever would I have imagined I could do that! 

I can't wait to see how this half will go with actually putting in the hard work, dedication, and time into training. 

This is the only picture we all took together that day and it is definitely from BEFORE the race. From the left is my mom, step dad, me, my aunt Diane and in the middle my aunt Sharron. Yes she's got a silly face but that's only because she was focusing too much on trying to push the button for the picture... she's adorable :)

Here's to a better half this year!