The Marine Corps Historic Half & Hawaii trip

Today, I am sitting cozy in my air-conditioned home, because outside, it is hot-hot-hot!! I know this post is a bit over due, and I finally recovered from jet-lag.


Marine Corps Historic Half

On May 15, I finished my first half-marathon! {For those that don't know, that is 13.1 miles} I ran it in style with the Marine Corps Historic Half, and was excited to hear that Drew Carey was running it, too. Considering I haven't ran like that since I was active duty, I was really surprised that I was going strong by mile 7. It was exhilarating to see the thousands of people running it with me, and I believe that was why it was a lot easier than I had thought. My husband was in charge of water point 5, and at that was around mile 10. I just kept thinking about what a victory it would be just to be able to run to him and give him a huge hug!

After mile 7 or 8, my stomach got extremely upset. Something that I was not anticipating during the race. I had to slow down from my pace, because honestly, I thought I was going to poo all over myself! haha-- I hope that makes y'all laugh! Seriously, though.. it was bad. They said it was completely normal because you are burning so many calories, and it gets your digestion going at a super fast rate. But, anyways, it was definitely taking a toll on me. My husband said that when I came to him at his water point, that it was less than 2 hours. Which means that I should've completed the last 3 miles between 2 hours and 15 to 2 hours and 25. However, I made a lo-o-ng stop at the port-a-john after seeing him. So, it took an hour to finish the last 5k. Ugh, I beat myself up over that, but you know what? I freaking finished!! They said 8,000 started that race, and nearly 5,700 actually finished.

Did I mention that I didn't run for like a 1.5 year before that? I know, my husband thought I was crazy for running half without training for it. However, I did a lot of cardio/circuit at the gym for months prior, and I believe that made a huge difference. Afterall, he didn't expect me hopping along to his water station before 2 hours. ;)

I wonder what my time would be if I actually trained? hmm... My time was 2:59:51. No, it is nothing to brag terribly about, but I finished something I started, and that was huge for me. Did I mention that I was wearing my Vibram Five Fingers the whole way? Oh, yeah!

So, my next race will be the Spartan Sprint in June. I am really stoked about it-- a 5k mud race with Spartan style obstacle courses. I will be training for that one, because I need the strength!

Our late Hawaiian Honeymoon

I will post this hopefully tomorrow, with some pictures. I just found out today, that sweet friend of mine died today, unexpectedly.