Women's Running Series Bloomington, MN Half

I can't remember if I posted on this before (what kind of blogger am I?! haha, kidding), but I talked it through with DH and I signed up for the Women's Running Series Half Marathon in Bloomington, MN in June!
It'll be my second half marathon, my first one by myself. That latter part is  intimidating  terrifying, but I have to remind myself that not only am I doing the Dumbo Double Dare by myself over Labor Day Weekend, I'll be doing the Dopey Challenge by myself in January. And maybe a couple other runs in between.

I always  expected  knew that I would be doing many of my runs and races by myself, but when it's only happened once then it's something you forget about.
I also can't help but remember the Princess Half back in February. I was in such a nasty mood, and my legs just hurt so badly that, of all things... I contemplated giving up.

Now, obviously I didn't, and I have the medal to prove it. And now that I have the experience under my belt, I know what I should and shouldn't be doing (for the most part) pre-race. And that includes not burning myself out (physically, mentally, and emotionally) in addition to putting more effort into my training.

Unfortunately, as much as I can remind myself of what I have "learned" (kinda already knew, but had verified), it's easy to get caught up in the negativity of one event.

One of my goals after we move into our new apartment next month is to get a medal hanger.The search has been... Interesting... But I think I'll be going with one from Allied Medal Displays:

I think at the point I'm at in my running, this sums it all up for me. I started running because I knew I could. I always told myself I couldn't, I'm not fast enough, I'll look stupid, etc... But one day I realized the only thing holding me back is me.
That goes for running longer distances. Running races by myself. Heck, just getting the guts to sign up for one!
Because I know my husband is behind me. My family is behind me (that includes his folks, too, even though dear FIL thinks I'm nuts - then again, the magnet on my car says "13.1 - cuz I'm only HALF crazy!" haha). My friends are behind me.

Speaking of support systems... One of my friends actually texted me to make sure I wasn't in Boston. I told her no (obviously), and then on Friday I realized... She thinks I could run Boston. Nevermind getting into a discussion with her on the details of BQing and such, because I don't think we discussed it. And I'm pretty sure a BQ isn't in my future.

But the fact remains:

It's great to have people who have your back and have confidence in you,

but you have to have your back and have confidence in yourself.

Even so, I wouldn't trade my support system for the world ♥
And before I forget, other medal hangers I'm contemplating:

(both from Heavy Medalz)