Operation First Marathon, Complete!

Thank you for everyone who supported me this past fall! Together we raised $605 to support A.D.O.P.T. Pet Shelter in Naperville, IL. I was totally blown away by everyone’s willingness to support this venture – so to all of you, a million thanks!

And to top it off, I completed my first marathon. Waaahooo!

The race itself was an adventure. I ran the first half with a half marathon pace group, but they were a little speedier than I should’ve been going and I was swept up in the excitement of running together that I neglected to stick to my run/walk plan (which I had used to prep the entire duration of training…rookie mistake!). Around mile 6 my left hip started to act up, and I literally had the thought, “Oh no you don’t. We still have 20 miles to go!!”

Thanks to Hubs, I made it through the second half of the race. I dropped back from the pace group and started my run/walk plan. Hubs had packed his roller blades so he could visit me at different points during the second half of the course, but by that point the roads were still completely clear and there weren’t many runners around. So guess what he did? He roller bladed an entire half marathon with me! I like to say, “We ran a marathon,” because there wouldn’t have been a finish line photo without him. When I was starting to drag he’d encourage me with my running mantras. He’d say, “I get to do this,” and I’d respond with, “I can do hard things.” Even thinking about that now brings tears to my eyes. It was such a special moment of love, raw emotion and a lot of grit.

By mile 20 my hip was pretty painful, and I compensated by landing funny on my right foot. BUT, I made it!! And on that day, that was all that mattered 🙂

In early 2016 I hit a mile marker (pun intended!) – half marathon #10! We ran the Walt Disney World Half Marathon with one of my favorite running tribes. And obviously, we dressed up as Star Wars characters…a must!

After the half we spent two super fun days in Disney together. But when we were spending all of that time on our feet I realized my right foot was hurting again the same way it had after the marathon. Lo and behold, meet my first running related injury – the dreaded stress fracture!

I spent 4 weeks in my super sexy boot, and then four more weeks after that just walking on it again and building back my strength and flexibility. It’s been a process, but I’m finally getting strong again and am training for a 10K and half marathon with a dear yoga friend this year!!

Yesterday we completed our first training run together. We’re using a run/walk method, and together we covered 2 miles. Here’s to many more miles together!

I’m so looking forward to running again, and to running strong 😀 Hang out here at Run With Pup to come along for the ride!