Training Tuesday

I am currently training for two half marathons in February.

The first is the Cow Run in Hanford on Feb. 7.  That is the city where Eric works.  The run takes place on the country roads of Hanford past several dairies. I honestly don't remember if the race benefits a particular group, but I kind of love being a part of anything that is "First Annual!"

The website for this run HERE.

And let's be honest, I totally plan to indulge in Superior Dairy ice cream after the race is over!

The second half I am running is two weeks after the Cow Run on Feb. 21.  It is the Big Hat Half Marathon taking place in downtown Clovis.  It is also a "first annual," and it is benefiting a local pet shelter.

I have several friends running this half marathon.  I'm sure they are all much faster than me, but I am finally at a place in life where I don't care.  My miles are just as long as theirs.  Just slower!

I've been officially training for the first half for a few months.  Today I completed seven miles.  I had myself worked up into a frenzy thinking I wasn't going to be able to do this.  I finally just sucked it up, headed out, and ran my little heart out!

I was pleasantly surprised to realize that I had every ability to complete the miles.  I took a few stopping breaks at stop lights and to eat some Sour Patch Kids for fuel, but I ran the entire seven miles.  

I just finished running SEVEN miles!

 I ran a little further on the run out so I could build in a little walking cool down ending at the house on the way back. It was harder to push past the half way mark on the way out before turning around than I thought it would be!

I'm not quite sure how the runners on instagram take all the cool picture that they do.  Here is my attempt at being artsy!

I switched things up for this run by wearing a new hot pink jacket.  It has thumb holes!

Pretty sky across from my house.

Ahhhhh, almost home.  And a pretty sky to look at on the way.

Eric and I also plan to ride our bikes in the California Classic in April, and then I want to run the half the next day.  It's cool because when you do both events, you get two medals that click together to form one.

After that, I'm trying to work up my courage to train and run a full marathon.  It's a scary endeavor to go after.  26.2 miles is a heck of a long way to go.  Every time I finish a half, I think to myself, there is no way I'd want to do that all over again!  

Here are some more photos of my training and running this fall.

One of my first runs after joining the gym earlier this year.

Walking the soccer fields at practice.

I ran the half marathon relay in the Two Cities Marathon.  I ran the 7.2 mile portion.  This photo was before the race.

 After the race.

Sporting my Two Cities shirt on a weekend run.

 Evan rode his scooter one day with me while I ran.  I enjoy having him with me. I love the light in this photo!

 On our first day of Thanksgiving vacation, I bribed the boys to ride their scooters while I ran.  We ran to the donut shop!

 My typical cold weather look.  I like purple.

A lot!

 I signed up and ran the Jingle Bell run at Christmas.  It was so much fun!  Kaitlinn and Natalie from school were there as well!

 Happy to run!

 This is after the run once I found Eric.  He volunteered at the run, so it was super fun to see him on the course!

My Christmas Eve run where I received a sign from my dad that he was with me. You can read that HERE.

I'm looking forward to where running might take me this next year.  And now I'm going to go research "upset stomach after a run."  I think I need to tweak my pre-run fuel.  Stomach problems are not fun on any run!

*Side note...I spent the rest of the day yesterday pretty sick after the run.  I did a little research and am pretty sure that my GI issues are related to dehydration.  I could barely eat the rest of the day.  I need to be better about hydrating before runs and in general.  That is my weakest area of fitness.