13.1. That is how many miles a half marathon is for those who don't know. It is also the longest I have ever run in my life, and I did it without walking! And I did it 12 weeks preggo! How about that eh? I have a running partner up here, Erica Beckstrom, who talked me into doing this race on Jan 22nd in Saint George back in October. So we trained. The first time I ran eight miles I thought, "this could be possible". Then we were blessed to finally become pregnant, so I was worried I'd have to back out, but the doctor said I'd been training, to not push myself too hard, and I'd be okay. Whew. Then in December I hurt my foot. Really just took a wrong step and sort of tripped over Lady. Then I ran on it two days later, and I thought it was broken. So I got an x-ray, and that doctor said there was no way I'd be able to run it with only about 7 weeks to the race. No way, I thought, for a stupid misstep? So I rested, for about 4.5 weeks, of zero running, and then I started again. I ran eight miles, and only on the last part did it start to hurt. So for the two weeks prior, I ran max of 5 miles at a time, and still rested. Anyway, from the title of the post, you can guess that I made it! I felt great (foot only started to hurt right after the finish line when I sprinted the last few hundred feet to beat this other runner, which I did beat btw). I ran it with Erica, and we had a faster time than we had practiced. By about a minute per mile! The course was easier compared to the hills that we have to run around our neighborhood if we ever want to do more than lots of circles. The weather was perfect, not too hot for this cold weather runner. I will definitely be doing another one. I never in my wildest dreams thought that I could run that far. I guess I just needed confidence. And if I can do it, you can too!!
Erica and Kendra pre-race, it was chilly that morning
Sprinting to the finish. I had motivated this girl at mile 11 to keep going, so we ran together for the last two miles, but there was no way I was going to let her beat me after I had gotten her to keep going
My cheerleaders: Nathan and James post race
Erica and I post race, let's do it again! (Next year, of course :) )
6 comments:
No stinkin' way! Congrats on the accomplishment... and being pregnant is even more impressive!! Hooray!
I'm so impressed that you did that, and even more impressed that you did it while pregnant! I couldn't get off the couch for the first few months! I hope your foot is feeling better!
that's awesome! Great job Kendra. You are amazing, as always! That baby is going to come out wanting to run too I think with all that running. :)
Way to go Kendra! That's awesome! I looked up the race online, it looks like a fun one to do if we're ever in the area in Jan. :)
We were totally down there too. I can't imagine how we missed each other, I mean there was hardly anyone there. hee hee hee. Good work.
Way to go! That is really inspiring for me to read about. Preston and I are doing a half marathon in June. Thanks for setting the awesome example of not stopping... and you are pregnant to boot! You're amazing!
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