Life is Like a Marathon

i did it, i did it!

this morning i woke up at 6 30 AM to head over to the beach for 

the Long Branch Half Marathon!

last year I ran the half in 1:57.

it was perfect running weather then; rainy and 55 degrees.

today was possibly the worse running weather ever.

by the time the race started at 9 AM it was already 75 degrees.

and since most of it was run away from the ocean,

by mile 4 it was closer to 90 degrees.

that was the one point i questioned my ability to finish.

i got so dizzy around mile 4 and 5, i was actually kind of worried.

luckily the water station came up and i downed some gatorade for electrolytes.  

the next few miles were fine. 

but mile 10 was where i got drained.

it was just so freaking hot out, i had no more energy left in me.

the scariest thing was, people were dropping out left and right

so many ambulances were rushing around to take those who had passed out to the hospital.

i'm not sure what my official time is yet, but it was slower then last year for sure.

i'm just happy i finished safe and sound :)

here are some pre-race photos taken on my deck this morning:

so proud of my momma!  she finished her first in 2:20 minutes!!!  amazing!

my finishers medal!

there's a few things VERY important when running anything long {or relatively long.}... besides the basics

1)  Christina Aguilera's song Fighter

i swear i played that song on repeat from miles 10-13.1

2) motivation

there were memorable sports quotes everywhere on the race

and so many cancer survivors running

plus, i kept thinking of how my best friend had just finished a MARATHON.

with so much motivation, how can you not finish?

3)  t-shirts by My Mottoz

i love these workout shirts!  so many fun and inspirational quotes on them

such as:

i have one that says "will run for chocolate"

and one

{which i wore this morning} that says

"shut up and tri"

although i do love the one that has this quote:

"life is like a marathon"

so true.

and i can't wait to sign up for one!

here's pretty pic i took today

i'm so happy everything's in bloom:)

xoxo