I ran my half marathon on Sunday. It was my third long race post-A, but my first since having C. I ran nearly 9 minutes slower than my PR (pre-babies) but I beat my previous post-A times. And it was great!
The race was on a beautiful and fun course through parts of Miami and Miami Beach. We crossed two long bridges that I’ve only driven over, which was really fun. And by some magic, the weather was more NC than FL. 53 degrees! I actually wore a running jacket for the first 7 miles, although I was rather overheated by that point. I stopped to pose for a family photo somewhere in the middle of mile 9.
NO REGRETS!
By the end, I still had some gas in the tank and actually ended up running my fastest miles. This means I probably could have been a little more aggressive, but then it might not have been so enjoyable. And it really was.
For those of you wondering how I handled race nutrition paleo-style, I didn’t. Pre-race I ate my usual pre-long run banana + sunflower seed butter, but during the race I chugged a few oz of Gatorade at miles 4, 7, 10, and 12. I figured that for a race, it made sense.
SOOOO, now of course I want to run more, but I am going to force myself to diversify my workouts a little and work at getting faster at shorter distances. This probably means barre, yoga, and 5K training. In an ideal world, I’d probably lift weights but . . . in all honesty I probably won’t.
In other news, I’ve been doing a lot of thinking about the season of life right now.
A&C are growing up. He’ll be 1 in less than a month, and she will turn 3 in April. C isn’t walking yet, but tears around at warp speed, crawling and cruising. He’s all into whatever Annabel is doing, with an interest I didn’t expect this young (i.e., he cannot help himself from demolishing any structure she’s building). A is in full-on threenager which is . . . more than slightly challenging at times. I am working hard at being more present when I’m with them (and all the time, really) and sometime I think I’m making progress.
I have more to say on the latter topics, but A’s Clubhouse time is coming to a close.
7 Comments
Congratulations on a great race! I’m glad you had a good experience and time!
As for the "threenager" we are right there with you. I recently read a book called "how toddlers thrive" and it is helping us deal with G’s mood swings and independent streaks. In the past week, he has defiantly told us he is going to the bathroom "by myself!" in restaurants three separate times. When Dan stands up to follow him in, he yells at him in front of everyone to "sit back down!" It’s awfully rmbarassing.
As for the TV shows we are having an issue where he asks for "just one more Thomas!" And throws a fit if grant get any, then we go on TV cleanses where there is no screen time for a few days. It’s so hard. Then he goes back to one show a day and in a few weeks we have to repeat the cycle.
Being present and calm with one toddler is hard enough you have my sympathies! c is a gorgeous little boy and you are entering my favorite stage – I loved 12-20 months! You still get e baby cuddles and easiness without the two year old attitude and independence. Enjoy it!
Miss you guys!
I miss you too!!
I think a TV cleanse might be in order here so that A can see it as a privelege/treat and not her right. Hmmm. . .
I actually think 12-20 months is SUPER hard! Aghgh.
Congrats on a great race! You should be so proud!!
Wow! you are FAST!!! Good for you! Looks like things are going well overall, which is great.
You rock! And it might have been 13.4 miles unless the course was completely straight or you ran the tangents. So own the splits 🙂
Congrats on a great race and an amazing time! I’m thinking of running the Miami Half next year – glad you had such nice weather!
Congrats on the half! An enjoyable race can be just as fun/rewarding as a PR, especially if you haven’t been out there in awhile. Glad those temps treated you well!