Salt Lake Half Marathon Race Recap

Yesterday I ran the Salt Lake City Half Marathon! I've been training for it since February and I couldn't wait for the date to finally be here. The last two weeks have been filled with bad weather and tapering so it had been 2 weeks since my last long run. I was feeling restless and nervous.

Our 5 a.m. Trax ride to the start

my nervous selfie (did I mention it was freezing??)

About 20 minutes to go time

My brother in law Robert also was running it so we were starting line buddies. The closer it got to 7 a.m. the more nervous I felt. I started getting a stomach ache and NO! I had to pee....too late to take care of that. I couldn't believe I was finally there. A few minutes before it started I got kind of emotional and started tearing up. I was so happy and grateful that my body was going to let me do this! All that hard work was the reason I was here and I was happy. The last half marathon I ran was in September 2013. Before I got pregnant and had a baby. I felt like this was my first half marathon because I was in a totally different body and I was curious how it was going to go.

The first few miles I didn't have headphones in or anything. I was just listening to all the chatter around me. With thousands and thousands of runners- the start of the race is always packed. I started off too fast but was enjoying myself and getting nice and warmed up. Miles 1-4 I just kept thinking "am I really going to be able to do this?" I wasn't in any pain and I actually felt really good, but 13.1 miles seemed really far away.

Miles 6-10 were pretty hard. There was a steady incline and a few steep hills. I slowed my pace and just kept pushing through. My body felt great and I wasn't in any kind of pain. I passed a lot of people who had to walk and I felt strong. Around mile 7 I was really hungry. My stomach was empty and growling so that was distracting. Luckily I had Carbo Pro in my water so I was getting all the calories I needed. So while I felt hungry, my body was acting like it was getting enough nutrients and I felt strong. It was probably around mile 8 that I finally said to myself "this is happening! I'm going to be able to do it!". There was a sign that said "That voice in your head telling you you can't do this is a LIAR" and that made me tear up too. I don't know what it is about running- but it makes me a cry baby.

At mile 10 I put some new music on and was feeling PUMPED! I had kept my pace steady enough that I felt like I could pick it up a little bit and finish those last 3 miles strong. This is where I was able to break out of the pack and go for it. I passed a lot of people at this point- many of them were walking- and that pumped me up even more. Around mile 11 I started crying a little bit because I was so happy. I felt great and I was almost there! A few tears streaming down my cheek and a smile on my face.

The very last mile was hard. My body REALLY wanted me to just stop. It even started slowing down and I had to physically stop myself from stopping (make sense?). It was crazy. But I figured it's going to take me longer to cross that finish line if I walk and I just wanted to be done. Bart was on the side of the road holding Mckenzie about a quarter mile away from the finish line. I was so happy to see them! I ran over and kissed my baby and ran on. Bart started running next to me with the stroller and was saying all these motivating things. I will be the first to admit that when I'm uncomfortable I have no filter. So I told him to "Just shut up and meet me at the finish line" *insert angel emoji here*

not flattering. dont care. I was so happy to see my fan club cheering me on!

I felt bad snapping at him but I was giving everything I had mentally and physically to cross that line. I don't care how in shape you are- if you push yourself those last few miles then they are going to be really hard miles to run!

I crossed the finish line and got my medal. Bart was there and I started crying and broke down in his arms. I sobbed for a hot minute and was so happy to finish! I really felt good. My last half marathon I almost passed out at the finish line because I was so depleted and hot. I didn't feel any of that this time around. I cried and laughed and smiled and was so proud of myself and happy to be done. It is an awesome feeling crossing that finish line knowing you just accomplished a goal you have spent several weeks and countless hours working toward! I felt strong and pretty dang awesome.

Days fly by

I never really blogged about the night I found out I was pregnant, and how we spilled the news to our family. Technically I wrote a blog post to baby B and never hit publish until 6 weeks later when we were ready to share the news.

I also wrote the following post and it has been sitting in my "drafts" folder ever since

December 12, 2013

I am 5 weeks pregnant today and NO ONE KNOWS! And by no one I mean Bart and my BFF Sarah because let's be honest..I wasn't going to sit around for Bart to get home after peeing on a stick. I obvi had to call my bestie. Ok...enough with that.

I found out 5 days ago. I was barely late for my period and even though normally I wouldn't even think about it, I kept getting this nagging feeling to take a test. I had an extra one lying around from an 'oops!' moment 6 months ago (it was negative..obviously) so I took it and BAM that electronic stick said "yes" within a minute! I just stared at it. Stared at it long and hard. Then I looked at Aggie who shared that moment with me and started laughing/crying.

pregnant. positive. yes.

Bart was at his brother's watching the Aggies lose play when I called asking when he would be home. He was grouchy because they were losing and said "late". So I went down to the couch and sat there with my stick and called Sarah. I remember when she got pregnant she texted me at 7 a.m. asking if I 'had a minute" and when I said yes, she texted me a pic of her pee stick. So of course calling her was my next logical step. Earlier that day was her baby shower so it was a fun-filled-baby Saturday.

When Bart got home I told him I had some good news and (like always) he said "you're pregnant?" and this time instead of laughing it off I started smiling and showed him the stick! He was so happy and we are still trying to register everything as I write this.

A few days later I went to the 7-11 next door and bought a bag of potato chips and a pregnancy test. The kid looked at my purchase and asked "how's your day going?" haha. I can see how this would be amusing. (fyi...I ate that bag of chips within 24 hours...Instead of blaming my fat kid tendencies I will blame the bun in the oven)

I want to tell the whole world but chances are you won't be reading this for another few months. That's okay...I just had to get it out to share later :)

Baby Bowen expected August 2014.


Kinda fun right? Well we waited until we saw our family at Christmas to tell them. We got this awesome video of my mom opening her Christmas present:







I can't believe this was 6 months ago and now our daughter will be here in just a few short months! This pregnancy has FLOWN by and I have loved every second of it!

POLS, SOC & SPCH

Fall 2009. SOC 3010- Social Inequality. Grade: B

I remember this class, but I don't remember anything I learned. Make sense? I remember a lot of (hot) football players had this class but beyond that nothing else comes to mind. I wish I had more to write!

Spring 2010. POLS 1100- US Government & Politics. Grade: C+

This was one of the classes in the semester I mentioned last time...the one where I was taking too many classes that depended on the scan-tron test! I suck at scan-trons. I remember I had this class with a friend who never came and never studied, but he did better than me on every test. awesome. I don't remember much about this class either. I wanted to see if I was interested in politics and it turned out that I was most definitely NOT interested in politics.


Fall 2010. SPCH 2110- Interpersonal Communication. Grade: B+

Interpersonal communication class is all about how to talk about your feelings and develop healthy relationships blah blah blah. I've never been an awesome communicator so I guess that made me the perfect student. It was one of those classes where you put the desks in a circle and are expected to participate in the discussions. It was a lot like a therapy session with everyone chatting out their feelings. Totally my kind of thing.

For our final project we had to pick a relationship that we wanted to improve our communication and document our findings. I chose Bart. We were recently engaged and he had a problem with the way I communicated ( aka I DIDN'T communicate and he hated it). It was actually pretty beneficial. I learned that I was a bad listener and tuned him out a lot. I realized I needed to listen to him all the time, not just when I thought it was important. I still sometimes struggle with this, but I have definitely gotten better.

The main thing I remember is this professor said hardly anyone got an A in her class. This of course made me want to get an A ( I didn't...). The same day she said that was the same day we talked about self fulfilling prophesy: you tell someone something and it's more likely to happen. I found it ironic that she made sure everyone knew they would most likely NOT get an A...thanks for that! In the end she was one of my favorite professors even though she didn't like me very much.

Messes, Runs and Recaps

When Bart is away, the Megan habits come out to play.

Bart is away today and tomorrow at a coaching conference. Whenever Bart leaves, our house may or may not fall apart for a few hours. I spill things, throw laundry on the floor, eat salad for dinner, watch endless episodes of Alias and make other messes. By the time he gets home tomorrow night the house will be spotless and freshly cleaned. All chores will be done and he's non the wiser (until he reads this post of course).

Also, I gave myself an excellent pep talk on the way to the gym tonight, telling myself (out loud, alone in my car) that I need to run my scheduled miles and shut up about it and stop complaining. It was quite successful. Tomorrow is my long run and I'm sure I'll be giving myself the same talk. As they say, it's 90% mental right? I think forward to a half marathon and at this point it seems impossible, so I will just stick to my small victories and take it one week at a time.

My week in pictures

I had a mini emotional break down on Wednesday and these few verses were just what I needed to read

Um hello...someone please agree with me that Bart looks pretty excellent in this pic

I met with my UofU adviser and figured out a plan that will get me graduated by December!! This is such happy news. I will be graduated with a year and a half of work experience. Not too shabby! Can't wait to be done.

Nothing says Friday like a trip to Sephora- be proud that I only spent $30!

Did I mention Bart was gone? This is my typical outfit...it's all about comfort people.

These ice baths are anything but comfort, but they do help with my shin splints after a long run

Why hello 2011...

I guess I am the only one, but I actually liked 2010. You see all of these posts on Facebook saying good riddance to 2010 and I must say that I don't feel the same.

This was the first year I got to spend with Bart, and as Bart put it, "it was our first year in love". So of course, a lot of my memories involve Bart (not a bad thing in my opinion). But I also have a lot of people in my life besides Bart, and lots of exciting things happened to them too.

What happened in 2010 that was so great you ask? Well let me show you... ( I randomly had a working camera throughout the year, so pictures are kind of spread out over the year...but you'll get the idea)

This is us last January

Spontaneous mini trip to Bear Lake

Road trip to Oregon!

Trip to St. George for 4th of July

 Another spontaneous camping trip

Football games of course

...and birthdays!

 And of course, Christmas!

Happy New Years everybody!

I loved 2010, but I am excited for 2011. So many new adventures are only just beginning and I can't wait!

411

You probably didn't know...

I can wiggle my ears

I am very okay with being by myself

I have a recurring dream with dinosaurs in it

I have become less and less friendly

I still have 3 things from when I was a baby in my bedroom
            1. My baby blanket
            2. My stuffed animal Dalmation Dog
            3. My cabbage patch doll "Carlosy"

Ribs are my favorite food

I don't want to plan my wedding

I have a journal and I write in it because I want my future daughter to one day read it so she realizes I was once her age too

I am terrified of the dark

No one thinks I am that smart....but I am.

I don't take criticism well

Either I am in bed by 10 or up all night

Once upon a time I was a really good soccer player

I am addicted to candy

My nails are never able to grow long

Future Mrs. Bowen

Last Saturday (July 24th) Bart asked me to marry him! I still can't stop smiling. I came home from work to him making me a delicious dinner which we ate a First Dam. As we were sitting on the blanket just hanging out he asked me :) I couldn't have asked for a better day! My ring is beautiful, Bart picked it out all by himself and I am very impressed!
 
No we have not set a date yet, but it won't be until next Spring because we want to wait until Bart is finished with school and is established somewhat in a job and I don't want to get married during a busy semester of school so we just plan on waiting...which is just fine with me because the thought of marriage still freaks me out a little bit :)

I can't wait to spend forever with him though, he is everything I have always wanted and he has such great qualities that I love. We work well together and balance each other out perfectly. I really am so happy I found him. I am glad he loves me despite the fact that I can't cook, I am not head over heels in love with the Aggies, I don't like to talk about my feelings, and the fact that I look like I got struck by lightning after waking up in the morning. He is the love of my life and I am so happy!

Here some pictures of us from the very beginning until now....:)

I am so excited to marry:

HIM

HERE

Love you Bart!