Valley of Fire Half Marathon!

I did it! (This will be pretty much the same thing I'm going to write on my own blog, sorry) This race was BY FAR the hardest race I have ever done! Honestly, it was, physically, one of the hardest things I've ever done. But I didn't want to give up. I kept going, and I ran the whole thing. Well, let me rephrase that. In my mind I was running as fast as my legs could take me, but I'm sure to any onlooker I looked like I was just walking and pumping my arms very hard. The "killer hill" on the Hurricane half had nothing on these hills. They were so steep and so many. They just kept going. It was an "out and back" race, so when I'd be going up a steep hill I'd just tell myself it would be so nice on the way back. But, nope, then the wind kicked up and those hills that gave a little reprieve on the way out were now monster hills that never ended. When I'd get up a big hill and got to go down the next, it didn't matter. The wind was so strong that I really couldn't go very fast anyway. There was also a good two mile stretch that was on loose gravel and sand. That was hard because I didn't feel like I could just let loose and go because I was worried about twisting my ankle so I'd have to brace myself for every step, which doesn't help with my plantar fasciitis. BUT, even with all those challenges I'm SO glad I did it. It's nice to prove to yourself that you can do hard things. And it was really so much fun running with all the girls. I also just love the race atmosphere.
As far as the rest of the week goes - I forgot a midweek check in. The first half of the week was VERY stressful with getting ready for the Tuesday Relief Society Meeting, and also for Rebecca's birthday. I did finally get to exercise on Wednesday, and kept going the rest of the week. Since it was also a tapering week and I didn't exercise as much, and I ate bad on Monday and Tuesday, I only lost one pound. I'm revising my goal a little bit. I'm going to be SUPER good next week till Thursday, and I'll make Thursday morning my weigh in day. I'm hoping to be down at least one more pound. Then throughout the holidays I'm hoping to maintain my weight. I'm going to give myself a little leeway. I'm going to try to not let myself go over last weeks weight. I have put on too much weight over the last month, which is so frustrating because even though I've not eaten the best, I've still been training for a half marathon, and putting in the miles. If nothing else it just shows me that I really can't just take a huge break over the holidays because I'll easily gain 15 pounds. Then once January hits I'll get renewed motivation and I'll start looking for another race to do, probably something a little less than a half. I need to let my body heal.