I know it's been more than a week since I ran, but....

Bodies are amazing things. I am amazed at how my body could go from pretty much no physical activity to running 13.1 miles in a relatively short amount of time. I’m sure if I had pushed myself I had enough time to train for a full marathon, but that would have been a lot of stress on my body and a lot of extra hours of training. I’m glad I didn’t do one and I doubt I ever will, but I won’t say that I NEVER will. I’m halfway there at this point and could probably keep training the way I have and work towards a full marathon which is coming up in November in Seattle. My knees were sore from running the half and my muscles were a little tight the next day. My knees were only sore from the pounding on the pavement, which is quite common with street running. They were not sore from the surgeries I have had to fix my torn ACL.

I was always amazed at how I could keep going after the first couple of miles and feel fine. I don’t understand how the body works. With all the training we did, my heart was strong and my friend and I were able to talk almost the whole way through the race without feeling too winded. It is incredible how a body can work itself up to running for 2 hours straight without feeling too tired and sore. I have never really been a runner, besides running a bit of cross country in elementary school. I played soccer all through high school and college, but since having Micah I was only playing once a week, and that was only when someone was around to watch Micah for us. It’s amazing to me how I could start by running a couple miles, and then add a few more on to our longer runs each week. I was running 3 miles consistently a couple mornings every week and was a bit nervous about trying to add anything longer than that, partly because it was harder to figure out when I would be able to do it and partly because I wasn’t sure I’d be able to make it. I certainly wouldn’t have been able to do it if I didn’t have a friend meeting me each morning.

I was surprised at the race by how many people of all shapes, sizes and ages were there. There were some people with prosthetics, and even a man in a wheelchair who was pushing himself through the half marathon course! The older people that were running were truly inspiring to me! It makes me believe that absolutely anyone can work towards doing a half marathon!