Thanksgiving 1/2 Marathon

So I ran my first half marathon on Thanksgiving day. My awesome hubby and wonderful mom and brother helped prepare and care for the kids so that I can run. It was such a great experience and I loved every minute of it.

It has been my desire to run a Marathon, and I kept saying after I had "all" of our babies I would do it. Well, our fourth is here and is one, we are almost weened, and so I got an itch to do it… now. Yep.

I had some great tips given to me from my amazing Mrs. Kollene and was so inspired by her I decided to start training with 27 days to go before my first full Marathon. 

So, I signed up to run in my first half in thanksgiving:) as my long run:) and then depending on how it went I would go ahead and pay for the full which would be two weeks later. 

To say it was fun may be putting it light. I had a blast! I met a group of awesome girls (7sisters) :) and at mile 5 we chatted the whole way to mile 13. I hardly notice I was almost done and then I climbed a small hill and looked toward the finish line and saw my hubby, kids, mom, and brother and wanted to cry, scream, yell, and sprint all at once:)! Just seeing their faces I felt like I could have ran another 13 at that point. It's amazing how their sweet faces and lives bless my soul! I am so thankful to God for them! 

So most of you by now think I am crazy, but I was doing a little training before I started this venture to a marathon. 

I had been doing insanity and started (running) training two weeks before the 1/2 marathon. I will share my schedule of training soon. I also juiced each day and tried to eat as healthy as possible two weeks before the race. The majority of my juices consisted of kale, carrots, cucumber, apple, and lemons. I also stay away from tea and fried food. Oh and of course drank water water water! In addition I tried to eat a banana a day to help with a good amount of potassium for fighting off cramps. 

My secret weapon is always PRAYER! God's strength is truly what gave me the endurance and grace to finish. He is so good to provide new friends along the way to distract me, to give me legs o run, lungs to breathe, eyes to see, and a family to celebrate with! What gifts each of those are! Truly! He is amazing! Thank you LORD!

 I am so blessed to have finished and so thankful for the opportunity! I look forward to running a full in the future. Please pray for me as I train for the full. 

Running a Marathon is a experience that you should at least try once :) Overall I would totally encourage you to get out and move! If your not a runner the 5K may be perfect because you can also walk it! You can really walk it or walk/run it! Get some friends together and start with a 5K! It's fun, your getting exercise, and its an opportunity to give to others too. As most races donate a portion of the proceeds to a good cause. 

 It was truly a great first experience!

I love to help any of you that are thinking about running soon! Let me know how your experience is! :)