Mommy Marathon: In Training

My first half-marathon experience was full of ups and downs - and in writer's terms that means the post recapping my experiences was much too long for one entry!  Here I detail some of that rollercoaster ride right up to the night before the race. 

Training for 13.1 = new shoes!

I started training in January with a 15 week program that was to prepare me for the newest adventure of my "30 crisis." :) I did great for the first 5 or 6 weeks - then we left for our cruise. Everyone knows vacations can be brutal to any workout regimen if you aren't dedicated to staying the course. I had every intention of working out three times during our five-day cruise; I managed one day for about 45 minutes on the elliptical. Then I took another two weeks off after our return because I was so exhausted from the traveling and catching up when we got home. I got back to my regular workout schedule (6 days a week) for one week before the kids and I left for a week in South Carolina with my parents. I worked out once or twice that week and when we returned from that vacation the Mini was a month away! And I was way behind in my training. I had completed the first 8 weeks of P90X in its entirety, which was excellent for building my endurance, but all of my runs to this point had been only 3-4 miles.

So I said a temporary "good-bye" to Tony Horton and tried to find time for longer runs. As any mom knows, however, finding the time was key. I generally did P90 in the basement after the kids were in bed, so time of day was not an issue. However, finding time after Nick got home, we ate dinner, did baths and got everyone in bed for even a 30 minute run in the last bit of daylight was hard enough - and I needed to at least double that amount of time to start getting my muscles used to longer runs. I was so proud of myself for being able to maintain my 5K pace for my 10K (6.2 mi) runs - just under 9 minutes/mile! But leading up the to the race, my longest run had been 8 miles so I was understandably nervous to find out what 13.1 would feel like!

Nevertheless, the night before the race I was excited and nervous. I had gone over to the 500 Expo earlier that day with my good friend Carrie to pick up our race packets so we were prepared for the next morning. My parents surprised me in the afternoon by coming up to spend the night so they could be at the race with me the next day! (A & C had a soccer game in the morning, so Nick was taking all the kids to their game and would not be able to come downtown with me - Thanks Mom and Dad for an awesome surprise!) Everyone had a carb-filled dinner to prepare for the big race and the big soccer game! I was about to head to bed just before 11pm when Nick called down from upstairs... "D just thew up!"

What?! I had no idea he was even feeling bad. He was playing and giggling with my parents while we got the girls ready for bed. How is this happening? So an hour later, after a bath for D, cleaning up puke, changing and washing his sheets and calming him down (this was his first experience with vomiting), everyone was finally ready for bed - though now I was a lot more worried about my baby and very tired from all the "excitement." When the alarm went off at 5:30am, however, I was ready to go. I can only thank adrenaline for the energy I had during the next 8 hours, because it certainly didn't have anything to do with how much sleep I got the night before. On this Mother's Day weekend, I guess it's fitting that my first half-marathon experience had "mom" written all over it!

Want to find out how I did?  Keep reading: Mommy Marathon: Every Mile Is A Victory!