Another Half

 I am a horse.  I am a running horse.  Think happy thoughts.

I signed up a few months ago to run the Bentonville 1/2 marathon.  The race is tomorrow.  I'm excited for the run- I love it how I feel after these races, but I must admit I am ready for the whole thing to be over with.  The more kids I have, the more I realize that training for races like this is hard!  And my body tends to get more and more crickety-crackety with age and each additional child labor it seems.  On top of that, finding the motivation to go running has been particularly hard.  I must admit, when my husband is home and ready to take the kids so I can go out and run, sometimes I just want to collapse and nap instead.  CME (chronic motherhood exhaustion).  Seriously though, James really has been great and let me go on some good, solid long runs lately while he took over dinner or the kids.

I was a bit reluctant to sign up for this.  2 years ago almost to the day, I ran another 1/2 marathon in Provo.  That race went fine, but leading up to it, if anyone recalls, I had a really hard time.  I got injured (I fell on my face/knees during a 10k a month before).  Then I got injured again during one of my daily runs (my Iliotibial Band on one of my knees got pulled).  And then I got really sick for a week and found myself having a not so good prep race while running (or I should say trying to run) a 5k two weekends before the race with a fever.  In the end, the 1/2 marathon went well, I finished and ran the whole thing- that was what I was aiming for, but the training was not a good experience at all.

This time, despite some sore knees and joints every so often, training has been much easier and no major injuries (knock on wood).  I haven't run as much as I originally had hoped for, but I feel ready for tomorrow.  I've also got to give myself credit- I let the training do what I was hoping it would do when I signed up, and that was get me back into the running groove (I hadn't run since that last 1/2 marathon two years ago up to the point of beginning my training for this race).

I do have one question though- this is my first time ever running a race while having a baby that breastfeeds.  I've noticed some minor pain around the 7-8 mile mark in my pelvis- the same area that got really sore while I was pregnant with Alice and about to have a baby.  It almost feels like the ligaments in my pelvis are stretching.  Is this because I am still nursing?  I thought I remember reading something about this once about a time, but can't find it anywhere anymore.  I know some of you run races quickly after having a baby.  This isn't that soon after- Alice is almost a year, but I can't help but wonder if breastfeeding has anything to do with my joints and ligaments still being soft.

My goal in races past has been to run the entire thing.  This year however, I don't want to risk my pelvis falling off, so I am lowering my expectations and just say my goal is to finish.  Finish alive that is :)

Wish me luck.  I will need it!

PS- anyone know any good running songs? I want to put a new playlist on my mp3 player to help with the "mental" part of tomorrow's race.  Leave suggestions in my comments.