colorado run half marathon. an #ophotwife segment.

today started off like any other. except i willingly woke up at 6 am and i was so nervous that i could hardly eat my cereal without wanting to ralph. ain't nothing that gets in the way of my cereal and me, most days. the question 'why?' might be going through your head right about now. well, it just so happens, that i was crazy enough to run my very first half marathon this morning!

i'm glad i was able to rope my friend meghan into running this with me. hopefully she doesn't hate me for it!

i've been training for this thing for twelve weeks now. twelve. that's a long time when you think about it. that's, like, a third of an entire pregnancy! it wasn't always easy. especially since i had the bright idea to run this race at the end of summer. meaning i'd be training for it all summer long. in the heat. i hate the heat.

lucky for me, the actual race was better than some of my training runs even were! with zach working, i had no choice but to train with addi in tow. i had an internal struggle as to whether or not i should push her in the race and when it came down to it, i couldn't let myself get this far with training with her and then just drop her like it's hot. so, this little beauty of mine tagged along for the entire 13.1 miles with me.

she even slept for a good 45 minutes of it! i don't blame her. running is exhausting.

i got to about mile 5, when i saw a bunch of people holding signs and cheering for passing runners. i looked for zach, hopeful that he might be mixed up in the crowd. no dice. as i went a little further though, past the majority of the crowd, i saw copper sitting there being a good dog, with zach next to him holding a sign to cheer me on. it might sound cheesy, but that gave me just the boost i needed to keep going! zach met me at three or four different spots along the route, with a different sign each time. have i ever told you how much i love that man? he was so unbelievably thoughtful and supportive through the entire race!

i had three goals for this thing. 1 - finish in under 2 hours and 30 minutes. i ended up coming in around 2 hours and 18 minutes, so i was stoked about that. 2 - run the entire time and don't stop once. this wasn't a problem for me until about mile 8, when i could feel the blisters popping up all over my feet. talk about killer. even then though, i didn't have as big of a desire to stop as i have on other runs i've done. that was a blessing. 3 - to push addi the whole way. i'm happy to say that all three of those goals were successfully accomplished! i can't even begin to tell you how incredibly awesome it feels to not only have finished the half marathon, but to have completed these things that i set out for myself on top of it. it made me feel like a million bucks!

never in my life would i ever have thought that i would become a runner like this. my soccer coach can attest that i was always one of the ones in practice that would complain about having to run a mile. people aren't lying though when they say that during an actual race, you get an indescribable runner's high and that's what makes you want to do it all over again.

at least, in the beginning, that is. this picture was taken seconds after i crossed the finish line. zach thought i was ticked at him for no reason at all, when really, i was celebrating inside, while telling myself to keep breathing. proof that you can't judge a person by their face. ;) if you were to ask me today if i would ever do this again, i'd give you a h3!! no. but maybe when my knees aren't killing me anymore and this gargantuan blister goes away, that answer might change.

if anybody has good running shoes recommendations, send them my way. because heaven knows i need it!

zach was so stinking sweet and had a cute sign and flowers for me at the end of the race. that alone, made it all worth it. i'm so lucky to have such a supportive husband! 

and a supportive daughter. i just know if she could talk, she would have been cheering me on while i ran. ;) 

p.s. if you haven't tried this stuff, you need to immediately. it's the bomb and tastes amazing.

thanks to everyone that sent me words of encouragement! it means the world to me. i'm happy that this is done and over with and that i can move onto bigger and better things. i'm officially one step closer to completing #ophotwife. now, bring on the season of toning!

-the mrs.