Soaring Wings Half Marathon

Just taking a minute to share a quick "Hooray!" This picture was taken at the Soaring Wings Half Marathon here in Conway this past weekend. Adam's sister Morgan trained and finished her first half marathon! Woo hoo! I am so proud of her! Huge accomplishment!

This was the first half I have done since having Gracie. Training this time around was different---but in a good way. I was telling my friend Stephanie when we were running the other day I've felt an added pressure/challenge this time around. I don't know if it is the idea of really making my training time count, or just the thought of giving birth in the last year allowing for no excuses to not challenge my mind and body in new ways, but I definitely felt like I needed to kick it up a notch.

Before I had Grace I did 3 half marathons, all for the fun of it. I really just enjoyed the social aspect of training with a group, and the accomplishment of just completing 13.1 miles. But about a month ago I decided I wanted to set a new PR (personal record) for this race. Thankfully I had a few good friends who were willing to meet me at 5am for some challenging training runs and it all payed off! My original goal was 2:05 (my PR up until now was 2:13)....but somehow I managed to kick it up and complete the race in 1:58:50. Definitely the hardest thing I've ever done. Yes, there were parts that hurt worse than labor. But then again the pain of this race is a little fresher on my mind than labor last year :)

Anyway--just wanted to share--its been a hard few months of training and for now, I'm happy with the new PR. My blisters, and stress fractured foot are looking forward to some time off. Thank you to my hubby for not complaining when my alarm went off at 4:30am 3 days a week. And praise the Lord that He has blessed me with a healthy body that is capable of doing some amazing things.