The Cordners: Gilbert Half 2017

This years Gilbert half was a special one. I really wanted to be able to run it, even though I would be 24 weeks pregnant!!! Training was hard. In the beginning I was still a little bit sick so it was hard to get up so early and run in the heat. Then it started to cool off so I could go a little later and that was really nice. But then my stomach started getting bigger and bigger and my ligaments were so loose and weird feeling. I never felt any "scary" pain. But it definitely felt different running that many miles with a pregnant body! I slowed down sooooooooo much. But thats ok! I did it!

I was getting more and more anxious the closer I got to the race date. I was mostly afraid of how long it would take me to finish. I obviously knew I wasn't going to PR, but I really didn't want to be one of the last ones out there either!

But the day of the race came and there I was ready to go. I ran into an old high school friend Sarah and we ran almost the entire thing together. That was a lot of fun. It was nice to have someone there next to me. Even when you can't talk a whole lot because its hard! Having that support is awesome.

Wendy and Whittlee ran it, although much much faster than me. But it was amazing to have them there at the start and the finish supporting me. I fell into Whittlee's arms at the end in tears. I did it, and I was so proud of myself!

The first 4 miles were awesome. I felt great and was keeping a fantastic pace. Lacee's basketball team was there with water at miles 3 and 4. It was so fun to see her. It was also fun to have the Williams Field basketball team cheering for me! I spend a lot of time cheering for them. Ha ha! Kyle and the girls were there cheering for me when we came back to the water stop at mile 4. It was so fun to see them. The girls get really excited about getting to watch me and it makes me feel so good.

Then the next two miles were kind of rough. It was so windy! I knew at mile 6 we were going to turn and the wind would be at our backs, so we just had to push through it. Once we turned everything was great for awhile! I love running through the riparian preserve. It is the best! We stopped really quick to use the bathroom right there. Then kept on going. I seriously was feeling amazing, until mile 10. Those last three miles were rough. Really rough. It was really getting warm and my body was really starting to feel it. It was also around that point that something happened to my music and it started playing these three random vampire weekend songs that I do not have in my library over and over again. So I had to stop take my pack off, get my phone out and switch the music. I knew mentally I needed to be distracted by music and those same three songs weren't cutting it. Stopping for those couple second to go to the bathroom and switch my music were the only times I stopped. I had my water pack so I never had to stop for water at the stations. I just kept going. I was really proud of myself for that.

I'd gotten separated from Sarah for a couple miles but she caught back up around 11.5 miles. We were starting to come up on Gilbert Rd. and I was so excited! Being on that parade path is so cool. I started crying. Pregnancy + Running High + Exhaustion = highly emotional person. Some friends that were there for the parade recognized me and started cheering. That pumped me up. All the music and the dancers and floats are so much fun! Finally we could see the finish line and I knew it was almost over! I finished strong and started crying again when I saw my sweet husband and kids cheering at the finish line. Kyle is so amazing to haul those little girls around so that they can be there to support me. It isn't easy and I really really appreciate it.

I can't wait to do it next year! I'm thinking this will be my first race after this baby girl comes next year!