My friend Ashley Potter convinced me to train for the AF Canyon Half Marathon with her and I am SO glad she did.
When I first started running after I had Parker I could barely run 2 or 3 miles at a slow 11 or 12 min/mile pace while pushing him in the stroller without feeling like I was going to die! So at first I thought there was no way I could actually do a half marathon. Much less under 2 hrs. As we started training though it is crazy how our bodies adjusted and got stronger. It was such a cool experience to feel my body getting stronger and being able to push myself harder and harder over the months of training. It was fun to find a new hobby. Ever since I quit dancing after high school I haven't found something that I love to do that makes me feel good and alive the way dancing did. I think I finally did. I don't think I will ever be the fastest or strongest runner, an ultra-marathoner, or excel at running in any particular way, but I found something that makes me feel alive again. I love it.
I needed it. Not just in the sense that I physically needed to get more fit (even though I did after being pregnant), but mentally and emotionally it was so good for me to work towards something as well. Transitioning into the role of being a mom has been the BEST year of my life! I would not trade my little family for ANYTHING. I've never had
so much love in my heart. It is crazy how your capacity to love
increases after having a baby. Even the love I have for Ki has grown
bounds just through watching him be a protective, attentive father to
Parker. Watching them play and interact often makes my heart literally feel
like it is fluttering. But don't get me wrong I have frustrated, hormonal, crazy days too. After I had Parker it took me probably 6 months before I started fully
feeling like myself again. I wasn't super depressed or anything... I
just didn't feel like myself either... it is hard to explain, I just felt off. But when I started running more, that is when I
started feeling 100% like myself again. Running helped make me feel more alive, gave me more energy, which made me feel more like me. Does that make sense?
For example, one of the things I struggled with the most soon after having Parker was the never ending repetitive chores. Now that I was a full time mom I didn't get that sense of accomplishment that i used to get from getting good grades, or earning my bonuses at work, or getting a big paycheck. It just felt like my life was a never ending to-do list that I was trying to survive. Feed the baby (I actually mostly enjoyed feeding Parker so that in and of itself wasn't a chore, but feeding a newborn takes up so much time that it felt hard to find time to do the actual chores). Do the laundry, go grocery shopping, what to make for dinner? etc. By the time I would finally get around to cleaning the house in between feedings- the laundry would need to be done AGAIN. By the time I finally had clean and folded laundry - we wouldn't have a crumb of food in our fridge. haha. I am of course being dramatic but to an extent that is how I felt/feel sometimes!
Now more then ever I appreciate what my mom and every other mom before me has done. I realize now how much that mom's do over and over and over without complaining. Laundry never gets checked off, weeding, making dinner, grocery shopping, cleaning the house, raising kids, etc... none of these things are ever "done and accomplished". Maybe that is why it felt amazing to set a goal to run a half marathon and be able to check it off my list :) To feel the sense of accomplishment that comes with succeeding at doing something you knew would be hard. I don't know if any of these crazy rambling thoughts made any sense to anyone other then myself but I guess what I am trying to say is that training for this half marathon was good for me... Physically, mentally, and emotionally. It helped make me feel like me again after having Parker, put me in the right frame of mind to be a good wife and mom, and gave me positive energy to tackle the endless "mom chores".
AF Canyon Half Marathon Stats 2013 (for my sake mostly... I want to be able to look back when training in the future)
- Finish time: 1:51:04.3
- Avg pace: 8:28.7
- Overall place: 604/1877
- Gender place: 292/1204
- Age division place: 23/120
- Mile Splits - from Ashley P's watch. We got separated around mile 9.5 so the last few mile splits I am guessing since we finished 2:42.1 apart
- Mile 1 - 8:27
- Mile 2 - 8:09
- Mile 3 - 8:07
- Mile 4 - 8:01
- Mile 5 - 8:39
- Mile 6 - 7:54
- Mile 7 - 8:07
- Mile 8 - 8:39
- Mile 9 - approx: 8:55
- Mile 10 - approx: 8:45
- Mile 11 - approx: 9:01
- Mile 12 - approx: 8:55
- Mile 13 - approx: 9:10
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| Where we started the race at Tibble Fork Reservoir |
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| Showing off our race tattoos before the race :) Glad I have running friends in my ward! So much more fun to have people to run with. |
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| Obviously still feeling pretty good at this point (Mile 10ish) |
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| Feeling a lot more tired at mile 13 - almost there though! |
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| Ashley P, me, and Heidi after the race :) |
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| With my two biggest supporters after the race :) I couldn't have trained my Saturday long runs without Ki's support. Thanks for waking up early to watch Parker while I ran all those Saturdays babe!!! |
I don't foresee being able to do the half marathon again next year... but hopefully again in 2015! :)
