The Utah Valley Half Marathon

Well, I finally did it. For almost three years, I have had a goal to run a half marathon. When I was on a study abroad in London in 2009, my sister-in-law Claire told me she was going to run a half marathon in St. George, and she wanted me to do it with her. I started training by running in Hyde Park, and even ran a whole 5 miles one day (I was so proud of myself! haha) but it got cold and rainy, and Claire ended up pregnant a few months later.... go figure ;). Ever since then, life kind of got in the way, and I made up excuse after excuse about why I couldn't run 13.1 miles. Finally, this past February, I was done making up excuses. I knew I would have a little less stress and more time to train after I graduated from BYU in April, and I also knew I wouldn't back up after paying 75 bones to sign up. So I did it. A few months later, my husband Brig and his brother Abe and sister Abi and her husband Dave decided it would be fun to run it as a family, and I am so glad they joined me! Even though we didn't run together, it was fun to be together at the starting line.

I got sick about 4 times during my 16 week training, which made it really hard to keep increasing my distance. I didn't run as much as I wanted to, but I ran more than I ever had before. 

Me at the starting line

 Right before the race

 I finished!!

Doing this half marathon was one of the best things I could've done right now. (Thank you Claire for being my inspiration!) It was so much fun to run with so many people and to be inspired by all the marathoners! There was so much adrenaline running through my body that I was able to run the entire thing (even though at mile 10 I thought my feet were going to fall off...)!! I never thought I could do it. I gained confidence in myself and reminded myself that I can do hard things. 

Now I'm addicted! I'm planning on running at least 1 or 2 more halfs this summer and my long-term goal is to run the Utah Valley Marathon next year!! Here's to more training!!