Mardi Gras 1/2 Marathon.... again

One year ago, I finished my first 1/2 marathon in New Orleans, one of the greatest cities I've even been to. We loved it so much that this year, me and my friends decided to run it again. These people are my running family. We keep an eye out for each other on the course. We have really fast ones (Ford finished in UNDER two hours) and we have some slow ones (several of us finished around 2:45), but we're all running because we love it. Most of us just run 1/2 marathons, but we have a few that are even crazier and run full marathons.


And these distance runs are extremely challenging. You spent months training for them. You learn to hydrate; you learn stretches and pacing.... It takes discipline, which I have sometimes... and sometimes not. But these friends made it fun!
And this picture means so much to me. Daniel, who calls me his running big sis, decided to begin training for this half marathon after I harassed him (just a little). I knew he could do it... he just needed a little push. And he did it! I am so proud of him!!

After running three 1/2 marathons in one year, this mama is tired. VERY tired. Chris has run three, too. We ran Nashville together last year and New Orleans this weekend. He ran the Rock to Victory last year in March, which was his first race. My first was New Orleans 2009.

Now that I have three medals under my belt, I think I am going to take a distance running sabbatical. Don't get me wrong... I really enjoy running, but it takes months to train for a race and graduate school takes up the little free time that I have. I'll continue to run, but only focus on shorter distances for a while. One day, I will run a full marathon......