Illinois Half Marathon - Done!!

It was the week of Christmas.....and even though I had been teaching Turbo Kick for almost a month, I was starting to feel sluggish.  I had over indulged on Christmas cookies and treats, exercised little that week, and was feeling depressed.  So, on December 26th, my husband Curt challenged me to get out of the house and DO something.  It was the middle of winter (and what a winter it was)!!!  Luckily, Curt had some cold weather running clothes for me to borrow.  I thought I would put on his gear, and just go for a walk around town...I think it was 15-20 degrees that day.  But, something changed when I put on the clothes.  I thought to myself, why not run instead of walk?  I had tried running on and off over the years for exercise, and disliked it very much.  But this time, something changed.  I don't know if it was my attitude, my cardio improvement due to Turbo Kick, or running with less weight, but I liked it. 

There is a route around our town that is a 3.6 mile loop from our house.  So, I decided on the day after Christmas I would just start running until I was tired, and then I would walk the rest of the loop.  Guess what?  I ran the whole loop, and it felt GOOD.  It felt almost EASY!  Running had never felt that way to me.  I came back excited.....and then Curt laid down another challenge...."Why don't you run the Illinois Half Marathon with me?"  HAHAHAHA!!!!  I think I probably laughed out loud - but if not, I was surely laughing on the inside.  I mean, I had just run 3.6 miles, but I didn't think there was any way I would be able to run 13.1 miles!!!  Then, about 5-10 minutes passed, and I thought, "Why not?"  I had accomplished a lot in the last two years....lost 90 pounds, quit my full-time job, started teaching fitness classes...why not a half marathon?  So, much to the surprise of my husband, I said yes to 13.1 miles!

I found a beginner training plan, which I started in the beginning of February...12 weeks before the April 30th Illinois Half Marathon race date.  Did I stick to the plan all the time?  NOPE.  I have three kids, I'm in school 1-2 nights a week, and I teach classes 3-4 times a week.  Sticking to a training plan perfectly is difficult for busy moms!  But, I did the best I could in my training, didn't beat myself up if I missed a day or ran less than the training plan recommended, and in the words of Forrest Gump, "I just kept running." 

Race day came upon me, and I started to get slightly nervous.  My longest training run was 10 miles.  It was HARD.  I only did that 10 mile run one time, and it was 3 weeks prior to race day.  Could I really run 3.1 more on top of that?  I was about to find out!!  I had a primary goal of just finishing the race without walking.  My secondary goal was to finish around 2:20.  Based on my training run pace, I thought 2:20 was probably realistic.  Curt and I traveled to Champaign on Friday night, had our pasta dinner, and got to bed early.  On race morning, I woke up excited...ready to complete a challenge I never imagined I would be able to accomplish.  I crossed the start line, started my watch, and pressed play on my iPod.  I had my music set to "shuffle", but the first song was "Push It" by Salt-n-Pepa.  I smiled and decided to go for it!  I accomplished my first goal of finishing the race with out walking, and I blew my second goal out of the water with a 2:03:43 finish time.  That boils down to a 9:27 minute/mile pace!  (I don't think I could even run ONE mile at that pace in high school, let alone 13.1!)

So friends....BELIEVE in yourself, CHALLENGE yourself, and you may just be surprised at what you can accomplish!!!