13.1

Five years ago, Adrienne and I ran our first half marathon - and what I thought was surely my last. After that race, I was miserable and sore and never wanted to run again, much less run another half marathon! In my mind, it was a one-and-done deal, checked off the life bucket list never to be repeated. I think it took me close to a year before I really got back into running again, but only enough to maintain my weight (aka justify eating and drinking!).

Fast forward to last fall, when my foot started killing me and I had to stop running entirely. I eventually had surgery, earlier this year back in January. I think being forced to sit inside and be as inactive as I could, made me want to get back out there as soon as possible. One of my best friends, Kelly, ran the Disney half marathon about a week after my surgery and I was actually jealous of her. Crazy! Once I had my doctor's clearance, I started signing up for 5k races and eventually Kelly talked me, Dani, Susan, and Amy into running a half marathon together.

After months of training and virtually cheering each other on, it was finally race weekend! We got into Tampa Friday night and stayed up way too late catching up with each other. Saturday was a pretty low-key day making our way over to St. Pete, and taking it easy before the race on Sunday. We all joked that it was the longest period of time we've hung out with each other and not had a drink ;)

lunch in Tampa with Corie & Ashley

Our team, the Hootie Hoo Half Marathoners - Dani, Susan, me, Kelly, and Amy. Carb-loading dinner Saturday night!

all ready for the race - Gator themed, obviously! :)

Sunday morning we got up bright and early for the St. Pete Women's Half Marathon. We had great weather - sunny and overcast but not hot, although a little less windy would have been nice. It was an extremely flat course which was such a nice change from the hills in Atlanta.

before the race!

Amy and I ran the whole thing together! Well, almost the whole thing - I was fighting a bad sinus infection, which made it pretty difficult to breathe. Kinda important when you're running ;)  I made it up until the last few miles when I literally couldn't get any air into my lungs and stopped to walk a few times. Amy was such a trooper - she definitely could have left me in the dust, but she stayed with me and there is no way I would have made it without her!

Amy and I finished in 2:27, which is an 11:13 pace. I was hoping to finish a little faster, but realistically my goal was less than 2:30 - which we just barely beat. At that point, I was just glad to cross the finish line alive.  It was worth it, the medals we got are awesome!

We all finished within a few minutes of each other. Loved seeing these lovely ladies at the finish line! So proud of us!!

finishers!!

after!

My favorite part about running is definitely the post-race celebratory drinks :) 

cheers!!

Thankfully, my recovery after the race was a million times better than the last one. So much so, that we are already thinking about running another half together sometime next year. Who wants to join us?!