my first half marathon.

Rock the Parkway Half Marathon April 11, 2015

13.1 miles in 2 hours, 27 minutes. (11:17 per mile pace) running a half marathon has been a dream of mine for 9 years. I've started countless training programs only to stop and give up when it got too hard. I was emotional as I crossed the finish line, thinking of all the times I had convinced myself that I could never run that far, it wasn't possible, being too self conscious to try because I don't "look" like a long distance runner. but today, I did it. I did something I never thought I could do, something I've tried and failed at so many times before. we can do the hard things, friends. and than afterwards, we can eat all the pancakes.

will I run another half marathon? I’m not sure but honestly, probably not. I hurt my knee/thigh from high mileage every week for over a month and I’m not sure my body can handle the wear and tear. I need to lose some serious weight before I consider running such constantly high mileage again. I also enjoy lifting and proper training for a half limits you to simply running for exercise, especially the closer you get to race day. Running a half marathon was a huge confidence booster. I learned with time and training, I can do things physically that once seemed impossible. I no longer say, “I can’t” but I now understand I CAN but ONLY if I am willing to put in the work it takes to achieve that goal. Part of that is learning which goals are important to me to spend my time and energy on. So for now, I am going to focus on 5K’s. I enjoy 5K’s and would like to get my time to less than 30 minutes. But running a half marathon also taught me to never say never. : )