HORSE CAPITAL MARATHON//RECAP
Horse Capital Marathon.
I can't believe it's already been a month since I crossed the finish line of my second full marathon.
PICTURE CREDIT: J.A LAUB PHOTOGRAPHY
A month after my son was born, I sat in his nursery scrolling through Instagram. Dozens of runners were beginning to train for their spring marathons, and I felt a pang of jealousy. There I was, still feeling the aftermath of birth and in the thick of the postpartum blunder, and at that moment, I never thought I could run another marathon.
That was the beauty of this training cycle, it was never about how fast I could finish or negative splits, or even losing the baby weight. I just wanted to prove to myself I could do it.
You've done it before, surely you can do it again. But where's the fun in a challenge without risk? There was always that chance that I wouldn't make it through training. Between newborn fog, feeding schedules to work around, and just overall exhaustion, there certainly was doubt in the back of my mind.
The morning of the race, I jumped out of bed and grabbed a sharpie, my mom and husband were confused, "I thought you didn't want to hit the wall?!" But that wasn't the point, if there was going to be a wall, I wanted to hit it harder than it hit me, as the saying goes.
My mantra through training
Race day began gloomy, scattered showers were off and on throughout the day. But having run this race the previous year, I was thankful for the rain. At least it cut some of the sun, heat, and humidity from the area!
PICTURE CREDIT: THE PICTURE LADY PHOTOGRAPHY
These pictures really embody how I was feeling at this moment! Exhausted, but still trying to smile and push through the pain.
The Horse Capital Course has stunning views, horse farms and gigantic trees throughout make it one of the most beautiful courses I've ever seen.
I started the race off slooooww, having made the mistake of the dreaded positive split before, I wanted to try hard to get it right this time. By mile 16, I decided to just smile every mile and push out all the negative thoughts that came swimming in my mind. I literally said You're doing this! out loud at least 20 times.
Several times during the race, I would hear someone behind me complaining about the heat, the rain, or any kind of pain they were in. I tuned their voices out, I literally could not listen to anyone being negative. I kept thinking, "Come on people, you're running a marathon! Do you know how blessed we are?"
By mile 18, I started calling my family members at every mile marker. My mom, who had just finished her 3rd half(and PRed!!!!) my brothers, my husband, both my grandmothers...I told them what mile I was at and that I loved them. I'm not sure if calling them was a distraction from the pain I was in or if hearing their voices forced me to keep going, probably both.
My mom, who's about to begin training for her very 1st marathon!
At mile 23, the tears began to flow. You're actually doing this!
I never had to stop running, even when my bones were screaming and the very thought of another step daunted me.
At mile 24, I started playing This is Me, from the movie The Greatest Showman over and over. Call it cheesy alllll you want, but it helped me to start running faster. I started passing people who had passed me earlier in the race! The adrenaline started to kick in and there was a moment there where I suddenly realized I was going to finish. Is the Greatest Showman soundtrack actually magic? Or was I just ready to meet my husband and son at the finish line? I guess I'll never know.
I cried as I was crossing the finish line, I cried when the old man handed me a bottle of water and said "Congratulations Audra", I cried while I held my medal, and I cried when I saw my family walking towards me. I guess motherhood has made me even more emotional(understatement)??
I don't think I had ever felt like I had earned pizza and donuts that much before!
Overall, I would call this race a win. I didn't PR(I did win 1st in my age division though! Whoop!)
Race Rise put on a great race, and despite the rain, the course still remained GORGEOUS. Horses and hills galore!
So here's to postpartum marathon training(the hardest thing I've done by FAR, which is a whole 'nother post), the Bluegrass state, and new things(hopefully faster marathon times?!) to come. Cannot WAIT for my fall marathon!
Happy running friends!
Professional Photos by:
J.A LAUB PHOTOGRAPHY
THE PICTURE LADY PHOTOGRAPHY
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