Same body, different fitness 👏 When I raced my first half marathon in Feb 2024, it was, quite honestly, scarring. I hit a wall at mile 9 and seriously contemplated dropping out. I managed to finish it, but I didn’t feel strong. I blamed my body, thinking “my arms aren’t small enough, my stomach isn’t flat enough, my legs aren’t lean enough, etc.” Now, 11 months later, I haven’t changed my body, but this half marathon felt completely different. I was able to run a minute faster while feeling SO much stronger. My body was never the problem; it was just the easiest scapegoat for my brain to latch onto. So my advice to anyone racing a half: 1. When you feel like you can’t keep going, you can. 2. If you’re feeling strong, don’t be afraid to push the pace. 3. Your body, no matter what it looks like, isn’t holding you back. It’s what allows you to run. It’s easy for me to blame my body when things don’t go as planned, but there are SO MANY factors that contribute to fitness and per...