Half Marathon

Running with friends is always the best way to run! Sometime ago my sweet friend Adrienne and I were talking about how much we enjoy half marathons. 13.1  miles is long enough that it's a good sized challenge without doing the damage to your body like a full marathon. (Let alone the crazy amount of time it takes to train for a full which neither of us has due to the raising of our little kiddos). We then decided we were going to start running half marathons together with the goal of completing one half marathon in every state in the United States. I am THRILLED with this new challenge and can't wait to start crossing off states. We recently ran our first half together in Nashville with 2 more good friends. I have to say that the week before the race I was NOT happy with my decision because that week was MOVING week! We literally moved into the new house on Wednesday and the race was Saturday. I thought about backing out of the race NUMEROUS times (Sorry Adrienne) but I knew I couldn't let Adrienne down. I went into the race with ABSOLUTELY no expectations and it was the perfect way to run a race. Andrew and I ran the first 8 miles together and had a blast. I haven't ever run that much of a race with someone and it ended up being so much more fun that I expected. Due to some knee issues and Andrew and I split up at mile 8. I can honestly say I spent the next 5 miles doing what I have NEVER done before during a race....I chatted with God. I had my worship music on during the entire race, but until I was running alone it wasn't fully sinking in. I got to have 8  miles to completely clear my head and then another 5 to just be with God. There were literally moments in the race where I wanted to raise my hands up...Being the Catholic raised girl that I am I did not do any hand raising, but who knows what will happen in the next half! It really was one of the best races I've ever run. (I would totally do another one in Nashville, but we need to start crossing off some more states!!) I was tired and sore, but I was reminded OVER AND OVER again that it is a BLESSING to be able to run a half marathon. It is a blessing to have the health that I have to be able to do this. I hate to say  it, but way too often I take that for granted. God reminded me in the best way that day. After all the craziness of our move and everything else we have been going through this was hands down the best therapy I could have ever asked for. Not very often do you get therapy AND a medal!! :-)  I finished the race in under 2 hours which I was pretty excited about and even got to beat my buddy Andrew. I will keep that little win in my back pocket just in case I ever need to use it. :-) I am SO looking forward to where this new journey will take us and all the memories that will be made!! Best friendship EVER!

Pre-race....No injuries and ready to go!

Enjoying our post race pizza and hardware! (Yes we even dressed alike by accident!! Pretty sure we looked like the Bobsie twins!)

Post-Race 3 injuries but proud of our accomplishment.

Race 1 done!! Looking forward to SO many more with such an amazing woman!! Have I mentioned Adrienne is doing all this while conquering her diabetes!! Can you say ROCK STAR!!