Women Rock Chicago...Coming like a freight TRAIN!

I am running a 1/2 Marathon in 32 days.

Now stop.

Read the first line again.

And again.

And one more time.

I am RUNNING a  HALF MARATHON  in 32 DAYS!!

Never...I repeat NEVER did I think I would use any of those words to form a sentence about something I am doing. Never.

But here I am running 4 1/2/ mile "short runs" aka a distance I can handle without collapsing in our front yard when I get back.  These running days have become manageable.  I run Emerald Glen...also known as the hill of DEATH...then finish the last 3 miles on a fairly flat loop around our little town.  Good. Great. I have these days down to a science.  I know when I'm going. I know when I'm eating. I know it takes me about 45 minutes...It's good. It's easy.

So why venture out of my comfort zone? Because that's where greatness happens bitches!!!!!!!!!!!

Sunday me and my skinny hooker runner friend that is running this half marathon with me ...(Please read "with me" as dragging me across the finish line) met me for our long run... Remember...4 months ago...a long run for me was a mile. Sunday our long run was 7 miles.

I spend a good deal of Saturday night making a bomb ass play list to listen to along the way.  Some SERIOUSLY legit music...You know...like a few songs from the Pitch Perfect sound track, M.C. Hammer, Thrift Shop, Brittney Spears, Nsync....The good stuff...

We went to bed around 11 and I knew I was going to get about 7 hours of sleep before my alarm would go off in the morning.  But apparently Tyler had another plan....because at 2:30 I FINALLY got to sleep...........................................................

Next thing I knew it was light out, my phone had fallen under the bed, and there was a skinny hooker waiting in my driveway.

I threw it together...pumped the baby a bottle for when he woke up...got the toddler some cheerios and right about then is when I realized my phone.didn't.charge.last.night.

ARE YOU FEAKING KIDDING ME.

I'm trying to run my longest continuous run to date, train for something that I thought would take me YEARS to get physically fit enough to accompish, and I made a bomb ass playlist that I now can't use!??!?! If that's not grounds for giving up and cashing a pot of coffee and half a dozen glazed donuts with sprinkles I don't know what is.

But I grabbed my hubby's Ipod with his horrible hubby like music and out the door I went because that skinny hooker runner had been waiting for 40 minutes.  The last thing I was going to do at that point is say.."Hey...um yea...thanks for getting up at 6:30 a.m. on a Sunday...and waiting in my driveway for 40 minutes...I've had a shit morning so I"m going to go back to bed and eat donuts...Have a good run!"

We ran Emerald Glen first then out on my usual loop but added some jig jags to it.

Now don't get to excited...skinny hooker was waaayyyy ahead of me..but I could almost always see her...and she only ran back to make sure I hadn't died twice.

We paused at one point for a drink and I asked her how far we'd gone and when she said 4.4 miles I almost died.  I thought we were closer to 3.  4.4 miles!?!? And I felt amazing.  I wasn't tired...wasn't drained...I was totally fine.

As we kept running I thought about how far I'd come.  I always come back to my first mile post baby 6 months ago...15 minutes and 30 seconds of hell...Then I think about the first time I ran Emerald Glen and seriously thought I was going to puke in the neighbors yard.  I remembered the first time I ran the 2.5 mile loop in town pushing Max and I cried when I got home because I couldn't believe I actually did it...That was the first time I felt like a runner...

And now here I am....running 7  miles.  We were getting closer to my house and I still felt good...like I could go farther...and I see skinny hooker runner coming back towards me.....and she says "we're at 6.9 miles!! Keep going!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

HOLY SHIT BALLS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I just ran 7 miles!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I didn't want to die.  I didn't puke in any yards.  I didn't stop.  I didn't let any of the mornings events stop me. I friggin did it.

On only 4 hours of sleep.

Without my awesome music.

Listening to my hubby's horrible techno tunes.

First time EVER running more than 5 miles.

Talk about out of my comfort zone.

But like I said...that's where greatness happens...That's where the runner's high starts...that's where you grow.  That's where I finially realized I can RUN this 1/2 Marathon.  Not just finish but finish running...with pride...and confidence.

32 days and counting!!!!!!!!!
                                                 

Left 8 Month Preggers December 2012~Right 6 months post baby August 2013