Tarra Yvette

As you guys know, I was half marathon training last year (6 months in) when I was surprised to find out I was carrying Viv 😊.

I still ran the race but not how i wanted 😆. My focus was on keeping Viv safe and helping my sister finish, so I finished in over 3 hours. Not bad for a pregnant woman who was never very fast anyway 😂 but I was aiming for 2:30 or less before I got pregnant.

So this year I’m training for that same ole Marshall marathon. Problem? I couldn’t really start training until LB started school. This summer was too hectic and early in the summer my pelvis and core still felt funny from Vivian’s birth.

That left me with only 9 weeks to train for the Marshall Marathon. Most half marathon training plans are 12-14 weeks long at least. I hadn’t been running hardly at all. Yet at this point, I am up to 6 mile runs with ease. Which is crazy because 4 weeks ago I could hardly run 1!

Here’s how I did it – this worked for me but do know that I was running short runs up until 36 weeks pregnant so I wasn’t starting from total scratch like last year (when i went from not running AT ALL). I had also been working out consistently for about 3 months before I started this.

This is modified from a few different plans I saw on Pinterest. My goal is to not overdo it and hurt myself. The short 1 and 2 mile runs are me working on speed and pace. I do those on the treadmill because it’s easier for me to keep pace and because I can do them at our gym while Vivian is on her playgym or Brian is holding her. The long weekend runs are done around the neighborhood while Vivian and LB are with Brian. Occasionally some weekday runs are done in the neighborhood with Vivian in the stroller.

The major hurdles I’ve had are this heatwave and managing time. Most days it has been over 80 degrees by 10 am and I don’t drop LB off at school until 9 am. I solved this issue by doing the runs at the gym on the treadmill (which shockingly helped my pace a lot) but then I have to make sure to still get other tasks done because I pick LB up from preschool at noon.

When I first started I was running at a 13:30 pace on short runs and STRUGGLING. Now I am around a 9-10 min pace for short runs and 11:30 pace on long runs and feeling good! I’ve also lost the last 6-8 lbs of my pregnancy weight. I’m hanging out around 126-127 lbs which is fairly typical for me.

Hoping to keep progressing and run this half in less than 2:30. It’ll be way easier without having to skip preworkout, getting nauseous and having to pee every 24 seconds like last year 😂