Half Marathon

Last Half Marathon for This Preggo

by Isis on January 8, 2011

“Wake up babe, it’s time,” Lee says to me at 3am. Luckily I am a morning person and haven’t had morning sickness (knock on wood). Five minutes later I’m dressed and slabbing some peanut butter on a mini blueberry bagel. I was feeling good and ready to tackle the 13.1 that lay ahead of us. By 3:30am we were walking out the door to the bus stop and by 3:47am, we were on a bus to the start. The weather was fairly nice, not too cold but cold enough that I didn’t want to check my Running Couple sweatshirt. Unfortunately for us, we had to check our bag no later than 4:30am, leaving us a whole entire hour and 5 minutes to “chill out.”

Once at the starting coral, we were entertained with featured guests at the starting stage including: Jeff GallowayAl Roker, Meredith Vieira, Natalie Morales, Minnie, Mickey, Goofy, Donald Duck and Disney race participants at Victory Base, Iraq! When the race director yelled go, fire works erupted and it was truly a magical experience!

What wasn’t so magical was having to stop to use the bathroom about .8 miles in and then EVERY single mile after that. Baby Hargrave was definitely bouncing around and directly on my bladder. Lee and I did stop at every water station to get plenty of water despite me not wanting to because I knew I’d have to go right away. Thank goodness there were as many porto-potties as there were (literally every mile) because I would have been going in the bushes otherwise.

Other than the potty breaks, we made a few stops to take pictures with some of our favorite characters and Cinderella’s Castle.

Lee and I walked it in finishing in roughly 3 hours and  10 minutes. We got our Duck Bling and then went straight to gear check to get our HoneyMilk!

Lee will be rocking the full marathon tomorrow and earning the Mouse Bling and then ultimately getting his Goofy Bling. This will be my last half marathon until after baby as I’ve reached the point where it no longer feels comfortable to run a long race. The bladder thing just got to me and I’m too competitive to walk. So until next time, have a great run and I’ll be cheering you on from the sidelines!

{ 5 comments }

The 2006 Chicago Marathon

When I first started dating Lee in 2006, he was training for the Chicago Marathon. I thought he was completely nuts and mighty good-looking. I never in million years would have thought that I’d be running next to him for 26.2.

When I went to support Lee run his first marathon, I realized the magic and aura a marathon brings to ones life. I was so inspired that weekend; I knew I had to join in on the fun. For me, there are so many things that make running the distance totally worthwhile.

  • The location: How often do we get to go on vacation for ourselves? Usually it’s for a holiday or graduation or something. Choosing destination races are the perfect excuse to take a “you” vacay.
  • The swag: There are a couple of really great races that give the hook up when it comes to race packets. We have gotten backpacks, t-shirts, water bottles, etc. So fun!
  • The crowd: Ever have that dream where you are on top of the world and tons of people are cheering you on? Yeah- that happens at these races. Try putting your name on your shirt and everyone will be cheering your name!
  • Fellow runners: We HEART the running community.  With the help of Twitter and Facebook, it’s super easy to hook up with fellow runners attending races. Have you heard of our Chicago Marathon Twitter T idea yet?
  • Feeling of accomplishment: Uhmm hello! Running 13 + miles is A LOT. Not many can say they can do it yet along wish to do so. Give yourself a pat of the back or by those cute smiley face stickers. You deserve a “job well done.”
  • New wardrobe: Its bound to happen…train for a race, you will be losing weight.

Why do you sign up for half and full marathons? What races are on your list for the rest of the year?

{ 16 comments }

Race Recap: Dallas Rock n Roll Half Marathon

Thumbnail image for Race Recap: Dallas Rock n Roll Half Marathon March 22, 2010

First of all, the fact that Isis PR’d has nothing to do with our opinion of the Inaugural Dallas Rock n Roll Half Marathon. That said…this race rocked! Let’s start with the expo. While we heard that this expo was going to be smaller than White Rock, we thought it had a lot more vendors. [...]

Read the full article →

Race Recap: Cowtown Half Marathon

Thumbnail image for Race Recap: Cowtown Half Marathon March 12, 2010

This year was a great year for the Cowtown series! They had a record breaking year with more than 21,000 runners. This race was not our strongest but the events leading up to the race were the most fun! Lee’s parents came all the way from Illinois to support The Running Couple. They even came [...]

Read the full article →

Race Recap: Austin Half Marathon

Thumbnail image for Race Recap: Austin Half Marathon February 23, 2010

Our first half marathon of 2010! With the San Antonio Rock n Roll and the Dallas White Rock half marathons behind us, we decided to take it easy in January and save our bodies for Austin…and we are glad we did! While Austin’s route was very hilly, it didn’t slow Isis down as she PR’d. [...]

Read the full article →