Running 4 Grace, Hope and Faith: October 2013 MRTT Baby Shower/Allstate 13.1

One more post and I will be caught up... at least for now.

Cheryl, who is also a chapter leader of Moms Run this Town for Marietta hosted and planned a Surprise Baby Shower in my home!! I still don't know how she kept it a secret from me! I was so suprised when I came into my house and saw my weekly running partners in normal clothing!! It was so much fun and the group truely blessed me with lots of baby stuff!!!

MRTT Baby Shower

I love these ladies!!

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When I found out I was pregnant in April, I knew that I was gonna continue to run, there were days where I let fear take over but I would always snap out of it. To help keep myself accountable, I decided to make a list of races I wanted to sign up for. After running the Alien Half marathon in August and feeling great, I decided that another half marathon would be in my pregnant running plan IF my body agreed. So I had 2 marathons that I was looking at in October, one was the Allstate 13.1, which was my first ever half marathon that I ran last year or the Silver Comet Half, which was super flat. I waited to sign up for a race and I'm glad I did because I had friend ask me if I wanted to run the Allstate for her. I was so thrilled, of course I accepted. It almost feels like a full circle. When I started running, it was to loose weight and stop smoking but it also helped with healing of the loss of my twins, healing of depression and everything that went with that. My goal was the Allstate last year and when I crossed that finish line, it was the most amazing feeling in the world. And here I am 31 weeks PREGNANT with a strong healthy baby in my belly about to run that same race with NO FEAR!

Moms Run this Town (local chapters) before the race

Cheryl and I, she is my sole sister <3

MRTT

I knew that it was this race was not gonna be easy since the route is super hilly and I had been training on flat trails so I took it nice and easy. Not gonna lie, the hills were not fun, the going up and down were both uncomfortable, but I got through it. I completed the half in 3: 17.31. Last year I ran that same race in 2:18.09. Even though it was a slow time, I really enjoyed the race and it just made it so special to be able to run it while pregnant. The sweetest thing happened to me when I finished the race, a volunteer called me over and got one of the photographers to take a belly pic of me after I received my medal. Then as I started walking away, the man who gave me my medal ran over to me and gave me ANOTHER medal and said, "It's for your running partner!" :) I got sooo emotional, I'm sure I cried. I can't wait to show Faith her medal.

31 weeks pregnant Allstate 13.1

A medal for mommy and a medal for baby Faith! We did it!

I logged in 42 miles for the month of October, after this marathon, I really had to take some time off to recover. This was truely a race to remember!! :)

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Halloween 2013: