running 13.1 miles...

A few days ago, Kaz and I ran the Charleston Half Marathon. I haven’t mentioned it on here at all, and there’s a good reason! BECAUSE WE DIDN’T TRAIN! We signed up back in the summer and I kept saying that my start date for training was August 1. Then it became Sept 1....then October, and so on and so on! Last year, I was extremely motivated to train. This year, it did the opposite effect! I maybe ran 2xs a week up until the week after Christmas! I honestly had no idea how the race would go because of my lack of training! Kaz agreed to run with me and I’m so thankful he did! He made some big sacrifices to do that! He normally can run a mile under 7 minutes and I’m around 11 minutes so that tells you how much he slowed down!

We both surprised ourselves! Last year, I finished in 2 hours 21 minutes. This year I finished in 2 hours 23 minutes. Not bad for no training!

My friend Carissa also ran the race:) 

Here was my thought process throughout the race....The first 6 miles was great! I kept thinking the whole time, I want to do a full marathon! Mile 6-8, I thought, Why in the world did I sign up for this! 9-11 Ok, I can do this...Just keep running. 11-12, I'm so close just keep moving....12-13, Just keep running. You are almost there. 

The beginning to me is always easy! The hard part is half way to the end! Thankfully, my ipod got me through a lot of it! Between Pitbull and Miley Cyrus they gave me just the amount of motivation I needed! It also helped knowing we would see Annie Rice at the finish line. I never talk when I run so Kaz kissed me and said good luck before the race, because he knew he wouldn't hear from me until the end! I actually surprised him and talked some during the race BUT HE TOLD ME TO BE QUIET! Can you believe that? HaHa! When I would talk, I didn't turn down my music so in reality I was talking REALLY LOUD:) I was really thankful he ran the whole race with me. I couldn't have done it without him!  The weather has been so nice in Charleston so I decided to wear shorts! A cold front came through the day before the race and the morning of the race it actually showed snow flurries! It was COLD, BUT I had already decided on my outfit:) When we started the race, my legs were numb! While running, I literally could not feel my legs! They just kept moving the whole time! My legs were the only thing I couldn't feel...Well, after the race my leg started stinging...I couldn't figure out why! THIS HAS NEVER HAPPENED BUT I guess during the race my calves rubbed together! I couldn't feel my legs so I didn't notice it so I have a raw spot on both legs! It looks worse than it is. It doesn't even hurt at all BUT I CAN'T BELIEVE that happened! It was a really fun race and actually motivated me to do another one!

waving to Annie Rice!