What I Learned from Running a Half Marathon

If you follow me on Instagram, you already know that I completed my half marathon on Sunday. I wrote a post not too long ago about my workout essentials, and how I felt I was unprepared for my half marathon.

And I wasn’t prepared, not as much as I should have been. The furthest I had ever run before then was 5.5 miles. Nothing even close to 13.1.  As a matter of fact, I almost didn’t show up that morning. I was in the process of psyching myself out, I was crying, I didn’t want to do it alone. And my husband looked at me and said, “You’ve got to be kidding, you can’t be scared of this. You’ve birthed a human! You can do this.” 

How the Day Went

I started off the morning with my brother-in-law and sister-in-law, who signed up for the run because Eddie and I said we were going to do it. Disney and anything princess related is a major motivator. While we were standing in the corral, we were talking about our expectations for it, and my sister-in-law mentioned she had a time in which she wanted to finish. She then added, “My goal is to cross the finish line.”

I looked at them and said, “Honestly, you guys have trained hard for this. I haven’t been nearly as good. My goal is six miles. If I make it through six miles, I’ll have run farther than I have ever run before, and I’ll make it all the way through Magic Kingdom.” I ended up running the first mile or so with them, and then I fell behind. It gave me a lot of time to think.

​I cannot even begin to tell you how many times I got emotional during this run. Within the first two miles I thought about my grandmother, who passed away in November, and how she would have been freaking out if she knew I was doing this, which then made me crack up. I thought about Caleb and Eddie, and how utterly blessed I am to have them in my life. I thought about my parents, and my in-laws, who gave up their anniversary weekend to watch us all run this thing (Fun fact: my parents anniversary is the 25th, my in-laws the 26th, and ours the 27th!). Before I knew it, I was crossing the Magic Kingdom parking lot and mile 3. 

Just Keep Running

By the time I crossed mile 5, we were entering Magic Kingdom. Eddie was waiting for me in the spectator area on Main Street (Caleb stayed with my parents the night before so I could sleep). I had already been crying after passing a few super motivating signs, but once I saw Eddie, all bets were off. I was a blubbering mess. And I think I was so emotional because I had doubted myself so hard. Maybe also because I was PMSing, but whatever. He grabbed my face and said, “You’re doing amazing. Keep going. You’ve got this.” Then we took a picture together with the castle in the background, and you can clearly see tears in my eyes. It also might be my favorite picture of us with the castle, ever. 

So I made myself a new goal – I would get to Mile 10. Miles 6 – 9 I slowed down some, but I was still trucking. Mile 10 was where it started to get HARD. My quads were burning, and I could feel blisters on the bottom of my feet. I didn’t have any pain, but my body was definitely feeling every step. But right before I reached Mile 10, I started to get all kinds of texts from my family and friends, who were following along with my bib tracking. 

When my parents texted that they were at the finish line with Eddie and Caleb, I knew that I would have to finish this race. Miles 11-13 were so damn long. And so hard. I was slow.  I walked a lot. But I kept telling myself, just finish. 

When I finally reached the finish line, I smiled, and then I broke down. I lost it. Ugly cried. Trust me, Disney PhotoPass Photographers caught it, and yes, I’m sharing with you. 

I kept crying, and when I got my medal, I’m pretty sure I couldn’t see straight. When I finally caught up with Eddie and Caleb and my parents, I was a mess. 

But I learned so much doing this. 

What I Learned

I learned that completing something like this is 25% training for it and 75% mental. If you have people pushing you and cheering for you, you can do it. 

I learned that I can crush my goals, and then continue to surpass them. 

I learned that I am stronger than I ever believed. 

​It reaffirmed that my body is incredible. 

​I learned that half marathoners come in all shapes, sizes, and athletic abilities.

I learned that if you want to do something, just do it. Don’t set mental barriers for yourself. Don’t tell yourself anything else except, you CAN. 

One note: don’t do this without training some. I knew I could do 5 miles, and with the motivation and the energy levels around me, I was able to complete it, but I would definitely recommend a lot more training than what I did. But if this is something that you want to do, then train for it, and do it. I promise, you can. Even in the best shape of my life, and when I was the most active, running a mile was something I was never able to do. If you had told me 5 years ago I would be able to complete 13.1 miles, I would have laughed in your face. But here I am. And yes, I’m totally getting that magnet for my car, because why the heck not?!

Crush it, momma. 

xoxo,