Race Report: Santa's North Pole Dash (5k) & Children's Snowman Shuffle

Santa's North Pole Dash (5k)

12/14/2013

St. Charles, Missouri

Time:  35:39 (unofficial)

A bunch of us signed up for this months ago, and I was super excited to go to St. Charles during the holiday season because I had heard such wonderful things about it. So, when the weather started looking dicey the days before the event, I was getting a bit annoyed.  The winter storm had already canceled the Ugly Sweater Run and Lights Fantastic Parade-- I was not gonna be a happy elf if this was cancelled as well. Though the forecast said there was a chance for some icy roads, Tim and I decided to go ahead and make our way there.  Thankfully, we didn't have any problems and got there before the snow started to fall.

However, the morning of the race, we woke up to this:

Winter Wonderland.

The race directors posted on Facebook that they would make the call by 6am if the race was canceled.  It wasn't looking good.  Some parts of Interstate 70 were closed due to bad conditions.  Over 4,000 runners had signed up and some that were in St. Charles were deeming the streets as being too bad to run on.  I was conflicted.  On one hand, I was going to be really bummed if another festive event got canceled, on the other hand, did I really want to run in this snow?!?!  At about 5:50 am, the race folks posted that it was on, so Tim and I suited up!  

Hey, Santa!

We met up with everyone in the hotel lobby and started our wintry walk to the start line.  The snow was still falling and we were all dressed in our Santa gear.  We couldn't help but laugh at one another.  We were dressed like Santa.  And we were running in the snow.  Crazy runners!  

Ho, Ho, Ho!

When we got to the start, Tim and I attempted to find the shirt exchange.  His shirt was just a bit too snug.  I don't know if it was because of the weather, but the volunteers were pretty useless.  No one seemed to know anything.  Tim decided to just suck it up and wear the smaller shirt.  We headed back and I desperately started looking for Leah and Jaime.  Oh my goodness, do you know how impossible is to find someone when everyone is dressed like Santa!?!  Just when I was about to give up, we heard them calling for us.  Yay!  

The race started and even though I have been running in snow, I had not been running while it was snowing or in FRESH snow.  It was a mess!  We attempted to stay in the middle of the road where there seemed to be a bit of a path, but that strategy only got us so far.  On top of the snow falling from the sky, large chunks would also fall from the trees and powerlines.  None of this was really a problem, if anything it made the whole thing more festive.  About a half mile in, we saw Travis and Jack and in true wintertime spirit, they threw snowballs at us.  We also got passed by Santa Claus at one point!  Good times!

Dashing through the snow...

Okay, so besides the wet shoes, the other issue about running in the snow was how much energy it took.  It was kind of like running in wet sand.  My calves were pretty achy near the end.  Leah was still having knee issues, so I'm sure the snow wasn't helping her.  Tim was his usual spry self, and even ate a candy cane that volunteers were passing out. We took a short walk break in the last mile and then dashed our way in to finish off my first ever 5k in the snow!

Overall, this event was super fun and festive!  I don't do 5k races for time because, well, I'm slow, but this one really was more about enjoying a run with some good company.  It's too bad the weather prevented so many from being able to make it-- only about 1,000 out of 4,100 registered ran the event.  Regardless, running with 1,000 folks dressed as Santa was a trip!

After the race, we walked around St. Charles Main Street area.  It has all these cute shops and there are holiday characters like, Scrooge, Santa and carolers walking around greeting folks.  You couldn't help but be full of holiday cheer!  We will definitely be back next year!

Merry Christmas!

I hope to eek one more blog before the year ends, but if not, I hope everyone has a wonderful Christmas and a Happy New Year!

Race Report: 1st Annual Turkey Burn Off Trail Run

1st Annual Turkey Burn Off Trail Run
11/30/13

Perryville, Missouri

Distance/Time:  3.51 miles/38:59 minutes

I have never really ran trails before.  Sure, one time Tim and I went to Giant City and I attempted to run one of the trails, but ended up just walking it as Tim continued on without me.  In my defense, it was a crazy humid day and I also almost fell down a dozen times.  Excuses, excuses.  I just didn't feel it that day.  Tim has always had an interest in it, but feels limited because there aren't a lot of areas near us.  With street running, we just walk out the door and go.  Trail running requires driving somewhere to seek out a place to run.  And as we all know, sometimes having to actively drive somewhere makes it harder to get your butt out the door!

Anyway, we were looking for a run to do over the holiday weekend.  Surprisingly, there weren't a lot of choices.  We found this one and even though it was about an hour away, the appeal of it being on a trail made it worth it.  We signed up so long ago, that it didn't occur to me at the time that the weather could have majorly impacted the fun factor.  Thankfully, we awoke to sunny skies and not super cold temps.  A perfect morning for a run!

Although Google Maps tried to take us to another area of the park, we managed to find the start of the race by following a car with a 70.3 sticker on his car. Hmmm.  Serious competition-- for Tim anyway! Packet pick up was easy and organized.  I was able to get both of our packets while Tim waited in line for the bathroom.  Oddly enough there wasn't a line for the women's.  Shocking, I know.  For some reason, I requested a large shirt and it was HUGE. They were nice enough to let me exchange it for a smaller size.

Another cute turkey shirt for me!

After hanging out in the car to stay warm (it was cold and windy by the lake!), we headed up a gravel road where the start was.  The race director explained the course to us, grass, gravel road and trail.  He said they did their best to mark major obstacles (rocks, roots, etc.) and there were volunteers at trickier areas and turns.  Um, what? How tricky were we talking here?  This girl can handle potholes and vehicles, moving or parked, and the occasional gumball (damn you, gumballs!), but rocks?  Mud? Tree roots?  What did Tim get me into?  After my mini-panic attack, I wished Tim good luck and headed to the back of the pack.  No way was I going to start in the front-- I feared falling and tripping dozens of others behind me!

The first quarter mile was a combo of the gravel road and then grass before hitting the trail entrance.  Running on the grass was brutal.  It was on a slant and it had warmed up enough that the ground was soft.  My fear of falling became worse when a girl in front of me fell and rolled down the hill a bit.  Thankfully, she wasn't hurt and laughed it off.  However, all I could think was "Please don't fall.  Please don't fall.  Please don't fall."   When we finally made it to the trail (yeah, that quarter mile felt THAT long) I was actually relieved. Surely the trail would be easier than lumpy grass, right?

The biggest difference I found with trail running is how much I was looking down.  With street running, my eyes are always in front of me, looking for cars, etc.  With trail running, I was always looking at the ground ahead of me.  Roots, ditches, rocks and branches were always needing to be hopped, skipped or jumped over.  True to their word, large rocks or roots in the middle of the trail were marked in orange.  This is probably a nice benefit that trail runners don't have when they are running regular trails. I certainly appreciated it.  

Not too far into the race, a woman beside me commented that she hoped she wasn't crowding me, but I was running a good pace for her.  I told her that I enjoyed the company, but wasn't sure how my pace would continue since it was my first trail race. Truth be told, I didn't really look at my watch or anything during the run.  I was mostly concerned with just getting it done without hurting myself!  The woman, Sara, and I stayed together the entire time and it turns out she knew another runner I know from Steeleville.  Small world, I tell ya.  

The trail had a lot more hills than I would have liked.  I had learned to embrace hills during marathon training, but trail hills are a whole other beast.  These hills were short, steep and windy.  And then there is the down hill.  Running on loose gravel down hill is a bit trickier than just regular road hills.  One area a lady warned us that it was rocky and muddy, sure enough, I slipped on some mud and decided that walking down the hill would be better than slipping down it.  Sara agreed with me, along with most of the other runners that were in front of us.  This was really the hardest part of the entire thing and I think if the ground was solid, it wouldn't have been so bad.  

The final half mile of the race was once again a mix of trail, gravel and grass.  This time the grass wasn't slanted or anything.  Flat and easy to run on.  I saw Tim cheering me on at the finish and I just moved my butt through that finishing shoot. With any race, I'm always happy to be done!  I was extra happy this time because I didn't sprain an ankle or hurt myself!  Yay me!

Post race was pretty fantastic.  There were plenty of treats:  the usual fruit offerings (super frozen bananas- bummer), hot dogs, chips, beer and s'mores.  Yes, I said S'MORES.  Awesome!  Tim and I both got a beer and I'll have to admit, it tasted pretty darn good.  Granted, I couldn't drink it all, but Tim didn't mind having a little extra.  Tim knew he came in 15th overall, but wasn't sure if he would place or anything.  We stuck around for awards regardless because, well, the snacks were tasty.  :)  Turns out Tim did place 3rd in his age group and got a pretty nifty medal!

Pretty cool, right?!?

So, that was my first experience with trail running, and I'm pretty sure I am going to have to do it more often!  I totally felt like a little kid at times.  A BAD ASS little kid. Jumping over logs and rocks really does make time fly when running, too.  My time might not reflect it, but out there on the trail, the miles really flew by.  I think it was because I wasn't thinking about the mileage, but just thinking about how to maneuver the next few feet ahead.  It was a fun experience and I think Tim and I will make a better effort to seek out some trails around here.

Great event!

Race Report: Kevin & Art Reveal Turkey Run

Kevin & Art Reveal Memorial Turkey Run
11/16/13

Herrin, IL

Time:  29:23 (PR!)

Confession:  Before this 5k, I had only ran twice since my marathon.  One of those "runs" was a run/walk (emphasis on walk) with Tim around Murphy Lake to see the Fall colors.  The second run was on Columbus Day with Leah and Tim-- and it was HARD.  I had achy bits after we finished.  Not fun.  Needless to say, I didn't have any major hopes for this 5k.  Just wanted to get my feet back to pounding the pavement!

This is only the second 5k I have done this year, which seems crazy to me, but I hurt myself last spring at Fly With The Eagles and had to skip out on a lot of the Spring races.  Then, marathon training took over my life.  It's nice to be able to sign up for some fun runs without stressing about how I was going to get my long run in. 

This is the first time I ran the 5k race at this event.  In 2011, I did the 10k and Tim ran the 15k.  Neither of us cared for the course because it was just the 5k course repeated either 2 or 3 times.  Not something I'd want to do again.  The biggest reason why we wanted to sign up for this one was the shirt was super cute.  I mean, it has a turkey on it! 

The day of the event was cloudy and chilly, but not nearly as cold as it could have been.  The real issue was the wind.  Standing at the start line wasn't too bad, but once we started, I was running against the wind during most of the first mile.  My shins just didn't like that too much.  The course is pretty flat for the first mile and half with a few small hills around the midpoint.  My first mile was faster than my typical 5k, but I think it was because I was trying to stay with some girls that I had talked to before the start.  They were young pups, so I was only able to keep up with them for about three quarters of a mile.  I was feeling pretty good and not really focusing on time or anything.  I was pushing more than a typical run, but not to the point that I was miserable.  This is one of the reasons I hate 5k races.  I always feel like I'm about to die, yet I'm still going so very slow compared to everyone else.  Shrug.

After the water station and the hills, I played the "fishing game."  I'd focus on a person in front of me and just try to either catch up or pass them.  This usually helps me stay focused during the last mile of most races.  Otherwise, I'd just constantly look at my Garmin to see how much further I had to run.  :/  I managed to pass 4 runners when out of nowhere a girl in a green shirt flew past me.  I think she may have been playing the same game.  I tried my hardest to catch up with her, but ol' girl was just sprinting at the end, so I did not succeed.  When my watch beeped at mile 3, I looked down and realized that I was going to come in under 30 minutes, possibly a personal best for me.  Woot!  I made sure to get my high fives from Tracy's girls and crossed the finish line with a big ol' smile on my face. 

I found Tim and he was feeling pretty good about his time as well:  21:54.  He admitted he yakked after he crossed the finish line, but he was pretty sure he placed in his age group.  We stuck around to watch Tracy's girls run in the kid's mile run.  They were awesome!  Kinsley was the first girl to cross the finish line and Kealey had so much determination in her face when she finished!  It's so cool to see kids doing the running thing.  If Tim and I have kiddos, I hope they are as into running as we are.

Tim did end up coming in first in his age group.  The boy is on fire and I'm a bit jelly that he can pull out these times without a lot of preparation.  Although, he'd be the first to tell you that his legs have been sore all week because of it!  :P

So, overall, I'd say a successful 5k event for The Johnson's.  I know it has at the very least got me back into running.  I did a speed workout on Monday and I'm planning on getting a 3 miler in today after work.  We are signed up for a couple of other runs before the year is out and I'm already looking at some spring half marathons.  I do best when working towards a goal.  I need to have a race to train for to get me out the door when it'd cold and dark out! 

Upcoming Events:

Turkey Burn Off Trail Run- 11/30/13
Ugly Sweater Fun Run/Walk- 12/7/13
Santa's North Pole Dash- 12/14/13
Frostbite 5k Jog for James- 1/11/13

I'm a Marathoner!

I did it.  I really did it.  It feels so surreal to me.  I don't even know how to start this post.  My apologies on the possible rambling and overload of pics!

I hope I haven't annoyed too many folks, but

YEAH, I RAN A MARATHON!!!

We headed up to the expo after lunch on Saturday.  We would have gone a bit earlier, but Tim did a 5k that morning- PR for Timmy!  It was kind of nice getting to the expo a bit later.  It wasn't nearly as crowded and it gave us an opportunity to do some of the fun stuff.  Brooks had an awesome area this year.  Both Laura and Tim won a free pair of shoes!  I was totally jealous of course, as I just got a key holders and a t-shirt.  :P  I was still iffy on what I was going to wear the next day, and found some arm sleeves that I thought that even if I didn't wear them on race day, they'd come in handy at some point.  I also bought myself a 26.2 Sweaty Band. 

I was pretty much a ball of nerves that evening.  I was trying not to think too hard about what it was I was actually going to be doing that next day.  Also, it didn't help that Tim was a bit of grump-- he was hungry.  Once I got him fed though, we headed back to the hotel and I tried on all the potential outfits, trying to decide on which one.  I went with my capris, a tank and the arm sleeves.  I kind of felt goofy in the sleeves, but they were really comfortable and it eliminated having to wear a throwaway shirt. 

The Cardinal's game was on, so I settled into bed and watched a bit of that.  I eventually fell asleep and then woke up to see the crazy obstruction call that led to a Cardinal win.  Tim came to bed after that and pretty much fell right to sleep.  I did not.  I tossed and turned pretty much the entire night.  When the alarm went off at 5am, I was not a happy camper.  I tried to shake it off and headed down for some breakfast.  I had a bagel, peanut butter and a banana.  A lady saw my blue bib that indicated I was doing the marathon and said, "Oh my, the full?  Bless your heart."  My low self-esteem took this the wrong way, of course.  What is it about me that made the very idea of me running a marathon seem like such an impossible feat?  Then I realized, she was doing the Half Marathon Relay, so maybe she was just trying to compliment me.  Shrug.

We finished up getting ready and headed back downstairs for some pics with the crew.  It was a chilly morning out-- 30ish degrees-- and we all had various ways of dealing with it.  I actually think the trash bag was pretty effective.  I wasn't cold at all.  I look pretty goofy though. 

Many miles have been shared with these folks.

 Cold air?  Don't care!  :P

We headed towards the start line and sang "Happy Birthday" to Leah along the way.  I was on the look out for Laura and was thrilled that I was able to find her and wish her luck on her first half marathon.  Leah and I made a quick dash for a potty break and I was thankful that there were little lines AND toilet paper still available.  In the past, this was not the case.  The wait in our corral didn't feel that long.  We snapped a few photos, and then waited for the corrals to start going.  Oddly enough, I was still pretty relaxed that point, which is very unusual for me.  I don't think it quite hit me that I was actually going to run twenty-six point two miles!



We finally got going and honestly, the first 10 or so miles, flew by.  Leah and I had fun giving high fives to the various cheerleaders (and bananas!) and just  taking in the whole the thing.  Tim was being a goof and taking photos of us, and we were just having fun.  Around mile 11, I decided I really needed a potty break.  I was hoping to wait for the split off point, but my stomach was a bit upset and I was afraid that waiting would be a bad idea.  Thankfully, it wasn't anything (no poops for me!), but boy, did I ever have to pee. 

We soon came to the "No turning back now" split.  Half marathoners went to the right, marathoners to the left.  I did get a bit of butterflies at this point.  This was it.  This was when the run got real for me.

No turning back now! 

It was also at this point that we caught up with the 5 hour pacer.  I had a moment of excitement because we were doing so much better than the 5:30 time we had originally signed up at.  I had told Leah that I thought we should aim to beat Katie Holmes NYC Marathon time of 5:30.  When our long training runs started, I wasn't so sure that would happen, but once the weather got better, I thought we would be closer to 5:15, than 5:30.  Seeing that 5 hour pacer made me feel like things were going great.

Then we hit Forest Park.

Now, I love Forest Park.  It's one of my favorite places in St. Louis.  However, the route was ridiculous.  It was a lot of out and backs and I was just not feeling it after a few miles of it.  We started walking the water stations after the split to make sure we were getting in enough fluids.  I started to long for those walk breaks.  Also, my fingers were super swollen, like sausage fingers.  I started doing the Gatorade as well, but it was so sickly sweet.  I finally figured out to grab a water and pour that into the Gatorade cup.  That seemed to help.  When we finally started heading out of Forest Park around mile 20, my right calf seized up.  It was the worst charley horse in the world.  I stopped and cried out.  It pretty much sucked- physically and mentally.

I pushed on, having to stop every now and then and try to stretch my calf.  Going up any kind of hill made it feel like it was going to explode.  I got a little weepy and whiny.  Tim and Leah were pretty encouraging though, and I am grateful that I was not alone during those last 4 miles.  I think my real breaking point was around mile 23.  My calf was hurting and I stopped to stretch and just sat down.  I mentally was giving up at this point.  I think I even said I didn't want to finish.  Tim came over to me and kissed my salty face and said, "You got this, babe.  You can be mad at me, but you got to keep moving."  I wiped the snot off my face and got moving.  We soon came to the 24 mile marker and I just told myself that I would crawl the last few miles if I had to.  No more complaining. 

Leah and I hitting miles 13, 20, 24 and 26!



Those last few miles felt endless.  Our watches were way off.  They would beep and then three tenths later we'd see the mile marker.  This was messing with our brains.  I think that was the only time Leah even said anything remotely negative during the entire 26.2 miles.  Her knees were hurting, but really I think it was the damn watch that annoyed her more than anything.  There were random folks encouraging us at this point, no more big crowds.  They were angels to me.  Just hearing, "Great job, you got this!" made me push a bit harder.  When we turned at the start of mile 25, I had a bit of a surge of energy that was quickly demolished by hill.  Guh. We walked a little more and then saw that turn off to the finish.  We were almost there!  We were ready to run it out.

I cannot even put into words how emotional that last half mile was.  I looked over at Leah and said, "We are doing this!"  It still felt so unreal to me (it was very real to my calf though).  We turned and could see the finishing shoot.  We saw Dennis and then Travis,  then we heard our group cheering us on.  I felt tears (salt?) stinging my eyes and I pushed as hard as I could.  As we crossed the finished line, I grabbed Tim and Leah's hands and it was the best feeling ever.  It was so hard running 26.2 miles, but finishing it made it so worth it! 

Point 2 miles to go! 

After we crossed the finish line, we got our medals and some pics.  Tim was on the look out for the chocolate milk.  Like a good husband, he grabbed 3 cartons:  one for each of us and one for us to share.  :)  We found our family and exchanged hugs and congratulations.  There were 7 of us running:  6 doing the marathon and 1 doing the half.  How cool is that?  I have no excuses not to be inspired when I'm surrounded by so many runners! 



At the expo, I told Tim that it was a priority for me to get my beer bracelet this year.  As most of you know, I don't really drink and I when I do, it's typically not beer, but I was going to run 26.2 miles!  A toast with a beer was a must!  (FYI- two sips and I was buzzed!)

Happy Birthday, Leah!  Thanks for running 26.2 miles with me!



Overall, I am pleased with my first marathon.  We finished in 5:09:59 (We beat Joey Potter!) and that is under my 5:15 goal.  Sure, I would have loved to finish in 5 hours, but those last six miles slayed me.  I knew they weren't going to be easy.  During our twenty miler, Leah and I  said we would get through those miles no matter how long it took us and that is what we did.  We walked when we needed to.  I whined when I had to- Leah deserves a second medal just for tolerating my weepiness!  We managed to get through those last six miles and FINISHED.  I'm so proud of us!

Tim.  I know I get mushy about him all the time- how he supports and encourages me.  How he tells me that he actually enjoys running with me, even when I get all Bitchy Betty on him.  I would have never thought I could actually run a marathon if it wasn't for him.  Tim never doubted me.  He always believed I could do it.  On bad days he let me vent, on good ones he told me how much I rocked.  Without him, this running thing wouldn't have ever happened.  I'm so lucky that he shares (and totally gets) the crazy love for running.

I want to thank everyone that sent me messages encouraging me and congratulating me.  I got so many texts and Facebook messages the day of the race.  Thank you so much!  It feels great to know that so many folks were rooting for me.  Special shout out to John H.  Thank you so much for the kind words!

I love signs with my name on it!  :)

So, what's next?  Well, I'm pretty sure my first words to folks after I finished the marathon were, "That was hard.  I'm never doing that again!"  And it really was hard.  But I totally want to run another marathon!  Now that I know I can do it, I want to do it better.  Train better.  Eat better-- cause I seriously failed at that!  I know it sounds crazy.  But that is part of the fun of running.  If you aren't a little bit crazy, then you are never really pushing yourself hard enough.  :)

That's the plan!

Trying to Stay Calm

Just so you know, I'm a ball of crazy right now, so this post could be a train wreck.  Consider yourself warned.

We are less than five (FIVE!!!) days out, and this marathon business is making me a lunatic!  One minute I'm full of amped up excitement, the next, I'm about to poop my pants in fear.  I remember being nervous before my first 5k and my first Half Marathon, but this is RIDICULOUS!   So many thoughts- both good and bad- are buzzing around in my brain, I just don't know how to silence the noise!!! 

Except for running.  Running always clears my head.  But guess what?  I'm suppose to be tapering, which means, I'm running less.  Way less.  It does not feel right.  A few weeks ago, I was clocking in 30-35 miles per week, and now I'm not even hitting 20!?!  This week I am only suppose to run a 3 miler and two 2 milers?  What?  WHAT?  WHHHHAAAATTT???  This is freaking me out!  What if I forget how to run!!!???

How I feel when folks ask me how much I'm running this week.

Big, deep breaths.  Sigh.

Obviously, the tapering concept is messing with me mentally.  I should have expected that.  I read many an article about it, yet I thought I would be immune.  Heck, last month, I was ready to run less!  I guess now that I'm actually doing so, it's just messing with my head a bit.  I know it's what I'm suppose to be doing.  I know it's suppose to help.  I just need to chill.  Breathe.

The other thing that is making me have mini-panic attacks is that final 6.2 miles.  I have done two 20 mile runs.   I was a wreck after the first one because I didn't fuel properly during the run.  The second one went better, but I walked more and my legs were a bit tight because of it.  Both left me feeling like I could maybe run more, but 6.2 miles more?  I'm not so sure!  What if I totally bonk at 20 and have a meltdown on the course?  I'm not above walking those last 6 miles, but I don't want to do so with a face full of snot and tears!  I enjoy myself more when I finish strong, but what if I just don't have it in me?  AHHHH!

Then of course, there is all the typical race day fears.  How cold am I going to be before the marathon starts?   What should I wear- do I really want to expose my chubby arms to thousands of people?  What am I going to eat the night before?  What if the Cardinal's game keeps me up too late the night before?  And I shudder to even think this, but what if I actually get the POOPS the day of?!?  (Non-runners:  Please don't judge.  Poop happens.)  So many things to worry about!

Truth. 

 

But there is also so much to be excited about!  I have been training for this for 18 weeks.  I have gotten up as early as 3 o'clock in the darn morning to prep for a run.  I have trained in horribly hot temps, downpours of rain, humidity that made it hard to even breathe!  It's time to cash that all in, right?  It's time for the pay off.  Sure, running 26.2 miles might sound like a crazy ass reward, but man, I want this so BAD.  I want to prove to myself that I can do this.

I'm ready for the pay off.

Another super exciting thing is there are so many of us that will be rockin' the streets of St. Louis this weekend!  I know about a dozen others that are going to be running that day-so many folks to cheer on!  I will be cheering for most of you from behind, but I will be cheering so loud and proud, you just might hear me! 

Also, I'm doing this with my best friend and biggest cheerleader.  Tim could have trained for his own race.  He didn't have to train with my slow butt, but he wanted to.  He wants to share that moment with me and that makes me feel all warm and wonderfully loved.  I am so lucky that we can share this.  It makes it even more special to me. 

He's pretty much the best.  

Okay, writing all that down calmed my nerves a bit-- for now anyway.  :)

Race Report: Mo' Cowbell Half Marathon

Mo' Cowbell Half Marathon
10/6/13

Saint Charles, MO

Time:  2:22:47

So, the more I think about this event, the more I feel crappy about it.  Figure I better get this blog up before I just talk myself out of writing it.  It is way more fun to write about a great run than a disappointing one. 

First off, Tim and I rocked this half last year!  We had great weather and we both ran personal bests.  It was well organized and had great amenities-- chocolate milk AND beer at the finish!  Also, the medals were awesome.  We were totally looking forward to running it this year. 

Mo' Cowbell 2012

Honestly, I didn't know what to expect with this half marathon.  Last weekend, I had a motivating 20 mile run and a pretty decent 4 miler at the Murphy Lake.  My overall times for my runs have been slower-- I blame the long runs on that-- but I had a pretty kick ass speed workout on Tuesday.  Mentally, I thought I was prepared for a half.  I wasn't expecting a PR or anything, but I was thinking some of the work I've been putting in would at least equate to a feel good run.  Unfortunately, the stars were just not aligned for me.

I woke up race day morning with a headache.   Earlier in the week I was plagued with a migraine and I just never fully felt 100%.  I didn't have my usual race day jitters, but I also wasn't feeling too confident about it either.  I just felt meh about it.  This is very unlike me.  I am usually a ball of nerves and excitement.  Also, I slept pretty crappy.  The pillows at the hotel were those puffy ones that completely deflate when you put your head on it.  Blah.  I also blame them for the bad hair day I was having.  I could not smooth that bump out to save my life! 

   Stupid bumpy hair.

 

We headed down to the start and although it was chilly, it wasn't nearly as cold as last year.  I looked for everyone that was running, but didn't have any luck.  I did run into Laura and was able to wish her luck on her Relay.  Tim and I parted ways at the corrals- they were so crowded.  Folks were squished in there like sausages.  I continued to look for Leah, Jaime and Tracy, but figured they were closer to the front, so I just gave up.  My legs were cold and felt pretty stiff.  I just had a bad feeling.  I didn't want to run.  Not even a little bit. 

 

So, the run begins and I'm just having issues from the start.  The shorts I was wearing-- shorts I have worn ALL summer long without any issues-- were riding up.  It hadn't even been a mile before I stepped off to the side to adjust them.  Ugh.  I had dead legs that just didn't feel like they were ever going to warm up.  I just couldn't get comfortable running.  Then, around mile 3, some jerk face spits his gum out and of course, I step in it.  Seriously, you have like 2000 runners BEHIND you and spit out your gum in the middle of the road?   WTF, man?  I did shout, "Not cool, man" to the guy, but of course he had earbuds in.  I stepped off and grabbed a leaf to get the gum off of the bottom of my shoe.  At this point, I'm just too annoyed to even think.  Guh.

 

I decided to not wear my hydration belt for this one.  I figured I'd just use the water stations.  This was not a good decision.  I forgot how much I hate dealing with the people at the water stations.  Someone sloshed water on my already cold legs and when I grabbed my cup, I got water all over my hands.  After this, the wind picked up and I was freezing.  So, yeah, mental note:  just wear you own water at larger events like this. 

 

I guess because of the water and the wind, by bladder decided to play tricks on me.  I felt like I really needed to pee.  I don't know if it was more mental or what, but the entire time I was running through an area called New Town, all I could think about was how bad I needed to use the bathroom.  I kept arguing with myself about this.  If I stopped, an already crappy run was going to equate to a crappy time.  However, if I stopped and took a potty break, maybe I would feel more comfortable running.  In the end, I decided to stop.  I looked at my watch the entire time I was waiting in line.  It was not a good feeling at all.

 

After the time killing potty break, I did feel a bit better running afterwards.  My legs never really decided to do what my mind wanted them to do.  They just continued to feel heavy and stiff.  Also, I started to feel a blister rubbing on the side of my foot.  I just felt discouraged.  About 8 miles in, I just had to accept that I was having a bad run day.  The goal at that point was just to get done and get my bling.

 

Despite all the unhappy, I did manage to find some moments of triumph on the course.  Last year a hill between mile 10 and 11 did me in.  This year, I was able to do it without any issues.  I also played "the fishing" game pretty successfully the final 3 miles.  I would pick out a person ahead of me and challenge myself to pass them.  This helped me get through those last miles and it also made me feel like I wasn't moving at a snail's pace. 

 

The last mile felt endless.  There were 2 hills to run down and they about killed me.  My blister pretty much exploded at the point and I wondered if I would even be able to walk afterwards.  When I finally saw the finish line,  I had my usual "Let's get this done!" push that was instantly deflated when a little munchkin decided to cross the finish line with his mama.  Ordinarily I would be all like, "Awww," but I was not happy with having to stop short less than 5 feet from the finish line because I didn't want to be the running monster that knocked a kid down when finishing.  Yeah, this just wasn't a good run day. 

 

Not a great run for me, but I'm always happy when I'm done!



 

So, I'm not happy with how I did.  I'm annoyed that I'm letting it bother so much.  I'm just nervous that I'll feel this way on the day of the marathon.  What if I feel awful the entire 26.2 miles?  Will I have the willpower to even muck through it?  Sigh.

 

Okay, enough of that.  Even though I had a crap running day, my running family did not.  Laura and Esther did fantastic on the Half Marathon Relay!  They finished in 3:20:03.  I'm so proud of them!  Laura is run/walking her first half marathon in 3 weeks!   

 

Determined Divas rocked Mo' Cowbell Marathon Relay!!!

 

I am so glad I didn't find Leah that morning.  I would have just held that girl back!  She rocked those 13.1 miles and totally smashed her previous record.  She came in at 2:07:06 and I'm so proud of her!  I don't think she'll have any issues with the marathon coming up! 

 

This pic is pretty crappy quality, but how freakin' fantastic is this shot? 

You gals are AWESOME!

 

Tim did fantastic, too.  Now, he was disappointed because he didn't match or beat his time from last year, but he came in at 1:43:07.  Considering he's been running with my slow butt, I think he should be pretty happy about that!  I know I'm proud of him!

 

Poor Timmy didn't PR.  So, he drowned his sorrows away.  :P

 

So, I guess if I can't find success in myself, at least I have a rockin' running family to inspire me! 

 

 

  The between sucked yesterday, but I did cross both. 

 

 

 



 

 

 

 

 

 

Race Report: The Little Big Challenge

The Little Big Challenge
9/28/13

Lake Murphysboro State Park
Murphysboro, IL

 Time:  43:43

What an awesome event!  We heard about this run way back in February when we did Fly With the Eagles Half Marathon (ugh).  Tim was stoked about it.  Lake Murphysboro is a challenging course and since he loves those hills, it's pretty much one of his favorite places to run.  Sicko.  :P  Anyway, the race was put on by Big Brothers Big Sisters.  They did a fabulous job with it and I hope they can make this a yearly thing.  I really think that this race will grow.  If you're a runner in southern Illinois you HAVE to do this course!     

I had originally signed up for this one with the full intentions of going hard and see how well I could do on it.  Tim and I had been hitting up the lake pretty regularly and I was much stronger on it than I was when I was running it earlier this year.  I still hate those hills, but I think that they have helped me build endurance.  However, I ran TWENTY MILES the day before, so I told myself I'd just see how I felt the morning of.  I figured if I felt like a train hit me, I'd just walk it or cheer folks on.  No big deal.

Shockingly, I felt pretty good the morning of the event.  Sure, my legs were a bit stiff, but not like they were when I ran the 19 miler.  I was pretty happy about that.  Uh, maybe I will be able to walk the day after the marathon!  :)  Tim was totally off his game though.  We got up early and had coffee and my sister was having a yard sale, so she brought sausage biscuits-- totally broke his normal race day protocol.  His legs were a bit stiff, too, but he was still planning on giving it his all.

Funny enough, when we pulled up to the parking area at the start line, I saw my old boss, Dave Clarke there.  I've ran into him a few times over the years, but not ever at race event.  He was pretty shocked by how different I looked.  When I worked for him, I was about 60lbs heavier and my idea of running was only for the pizza man.  :P  (FYI- I still love my pizza.)  

There was only about 60 participants signed up.  I say only just because I really do think this event could be bigger.  There were several races that day, including one at SIU for Family Weekend.  Hopefully next year they move the date so they aren't competing with so much.

The race actually started going down hill.  Any other time, I would have been fine with that, but because my legs were so stiff, it wasn't very fun.  In the back of my head I actually thought that I should have warmed up (gasp!) before the start.  I wasn't having the greatest run.  My legs felt very sluggish and on the 3rd hill I seriously thought my calf was going to pop.  I ended up walking the 2 water stations.  I chatted with a high school friend, Stephanie, for a bit.  She had been running the lake in about an hour and she hoping to finish under that.  There was also a run/walker in a green tank that I played cat and mouse with the 2nd part of the race.  The final time I passed her, I told her that she would end up passing me again in a bit because I hated the last half mile of the route.  She laughed and said something about not so sure about that.  The last bit of the course really sucks.  It's not really a steep hill or anything, but just a long, winding incline.  Sure enough, Green Tank Girl passed me on a short downhill part.  When we were heading up the last hill I was right behind her and she looked like she was about to walk again, so I shouted, "Don't let me catch you now!"  It totally worked, the girl hustled her butt up to the finishing shoot.  Sure, I could have just pushed and whipped past her (maybe not- my legs were pulsing like crazy at that point) but it's more fun to be a cheerleader!  :) 

Tim was waiting for me with water and towel (Sweaty Betty in full effect, ya'll) at the finish.  I asked him how he did and he said "I finished in 29:31 and I puked."  I am so proud of him (his time, not the puke part)!  He said it was just a good run day for him.  He ended up coming in 1st in his age group and 4th overall.  Rockstar!

 Happy Tim!

 The medals were colored by the "Little Brothers & Sisters." 

Pretty awesome if you ask me!

My time was actually pretty typical for me.  My best time for the Lake is 43:27, so considering I ran 20 miles the day before, I'm pretty darn happy with 43:43. 

Seriously, what a great weekend for running!   

Upcoming Events:

10/6/2013- Mo' Cowbell Half Marathon
10/27/2023- Rock 'n Roll St. Louis Marathon (YIKES!)
11/9/2013- Women Together 5k
11/16/2013- Turkey Trot 5k/15k
12/14/2013- Santa's North Pole Dash 5k

Twenty!

As I have expressed, this training for a marathon thing has been HARD.  Not just physically and mentally, but finding all the time to run is sometimes an impossible task.  Trying to figure out how to get 30-40 miles in each week has not been easy.  Waking up at 4:30am on a work day is not my idea of fun.  Alarm clocks screaming at me at 3:30am is pretty much a circle of hell for me.  Running used to be fun and "easy," but this training has made it feel like a lot of work.  And I understand that.  I knew when I decided to torture myself by running 26.2 miles that I wasn't just committing to a one day event.  I was committing to MONTHS of training.  I knew this.  I really did.  It just didn't register with me how time consuming it would be. 

Twenty miles.  That number has been scaring me for a few weeks now.  According to the plan I'm following, my 20 mile run should be the weekend of October 7th.  However, I signed up for the Mo' Cowbell Half Marathon.  The question then became, should I do it BEFORE or AFTER the half???  Of course, I went to the evil Internets to see what I should do.  Ugh.  Bad idea.  Most plans say to aim to do it at least 3 weeks before the marathon.  This gives your body time to properly heal, yada, yada.  I read articles on tapering and how some folks start too soon, while others don't start soon enough.  The message boards were full of all sorts of conflicting advice.  It was making my brain hurt.  In the end, I let Tim twist my arm into just doing it the weekend before my half marathon.  I'm pretty sure he wanted this just so I would shut up about it.  We were taking Friday off from work and the weather looked questionable on Sunday, so we decided to just do it.  Steven had to get a 20 miler in as well, so we all planned to meet up and knock it out.  Props to Steven for agreeing to run with my slow butt. 

As usual, I was a nervous wreck the night before.  I had had a pretty mediocre running week.  I only got 2 runs in and they weren't the type that boosted any confidence.  I knew I was getting on Tim's nerves, so I just tried to go to bed early.  I slept poorly.  Shocker.

We met up at Steven's house around 4:30am.  It was pretty foggy out.  We stayed in town for the first few miles and then headed out towards Harrison Road.  Surprisingly, I felt pretty darn good those first 10 miles.  I think I may have even mentioned how much ass I was kicking at one point.  :)  We hit the Water Plant at mile 11.  I took a potty break and did a gel.  About a mile after that, my hip started hurting and I was just feeling a little tired.  I realized that I hadn't really drank much of my water, so I tried to take sips more often.  It was brighter out, so I started to lag back a bit from the boys.  My pace had decreased a lot.  Tim kept turning his head (I know he was worried about me), but I was actually okay going at it solo at that point.  We went to the marina entrance and then headed back towards town.  I was annoyed with Tim's route because there are 3 hills after the marina that I absolutely hate.  I bargained with myself that I would stop at mile 15 to walk a bit.  Well, that would have been in the middle of that last hill, so I forced myself to get up it and then walked.  Walking didn't really help.  It actually only made my hip hurt more.  Blah.

We continued on towards Lake Murphysboro.  I stopped again because my fuel belt was loosening so much that it was falling off.  Tim was sticking with me at this point.  I think he was sensing a come apart moment.  Steven was a bit ahead and turned back to wave to indicate he was heading out.  I was actually surprised that he stayed with us that long- he was going to work that day!  Tim apologized for all the hills.  Blah.  Stupid hills.  I swear I was looking at my watch every tenth of a mile.  Once we got out the lake, we only had one hill left (the hill that I used to not think was a hill! wink, wink) and about 1.5 miles to go.  And this is when I hit a massive wall.

My stomach cramped up and I started crying.  Oh yeah, it wasn't pretty.  Tim let me have my little "moment" before gently reminding me that we were almost done.  "We just have to get home now, babes.  Just gotta get down Cemetery Hill.  You got this."  I had a lot of doubt in me, but I knew he was right.  I started running (slowly) and promised myself not to look at my watch again until it beeped at 20 miles.  And when it beeped, I'm pretty sure I cried out in joy.

I think my issues at the end were because I didn't fuel or hydrate properly throughout the run.  I really hate doing gels, etc., but I was so shaky at the end, that I could tell my body needed something.  I gagged down a protein shake and tortured myself with the foam roller. 

Sweaty & tired, but proud.

 I will say this, I am glad to have it over with.  I feel a bit more confident now that I got the 20 miler under my belt.  I'm not sure if I'll do it again when my running pals run their 20-- I'm going to see how my legs feel this week and after the half marathon.  I'd like to just so I can play around with the fueling a bit more.  I'm still terrified of running 6.2 more miles, but I think I can get it done with Tim's encouragement.  I just need to believe in myself...

Oh, it was our 10 year anniversary that day, too!   After the run, Tim made me pancakes and surprised me with this: 

Yeah, I have the best husband ever. 

19 Miles on BEAST MODE!

3:20 am.

That is when my stupid alarm went off on Saturday morning.  Ugh.  Too freakin' early!

I started the day with my usual breakfast:  English Muffin with Peanut Butter.  I added banana slices to it.  I think I'm pretty good with this as my pre-run fuel.  My stomach was a bit upset when I woke up, but I was still able to eat this and not have any issues while running.

Noms.

The temperature was almost chilly when we started running.  It was around 50 degrees, so I'm not gonna complain or anything, it just took my legs a bit to actually warm up.  I was also concerned with my water intake.  I tend to drink less when it's cooler out.  Oh, and the cold air made me need to pee.  :)  We were a little over 4 miles when we hit the concessions at the lake, so I was able to use the potty there.

Since the 18 miler pretty much destroyed any thread of confidence I had in my running ability, I was determined to focus on my "just keep running" mantra.  It pretty much worked.  Tim and I were a bit back from the pack going a pace that I felt I could maintain fairly comfortably.  The first 10 miles were pretty steady for me.  My splits were under 11 minute miles with the exception of the potty break and when I did a gel around mile 6.  I felt pretty good when we stopped at the marina.  Jack and Travis were there with some welcomed goodies.  Again, it's awesome to have that support during these long runs.

When we headed back out, the sun was fully up and a welcomed sight.  We were pretty much in the dark the first 7 miles, so having the ability to see again was nice. With the exception of the hills after the marina (cause you all know I hate hills, right?), this part of the run was pretty gorgeous.  The sun and blue sky made me think about how lucky I am to live somewhere so green.  The grassy fields and yellow corn fields made for some wonderful running views.  Tim even had some fun playing with the horses we ran past.  :)

Rant:   Seriously, people, what is your problem?  Can you really not wait until you are at a trashcan to toss out your McDonald's?  Ugh.  Litterbugs suck.  End of Rant.  

I was making a better effort to drink more water during the second part of the run, but of course that meant I needed to potty again when we hit the water plant. Also, my IT Band was starting to bother me a bit.  I mentioned it to Tim and he was concerned since that is what took me out earlier this year. I stretched out my leg a bit and shared a Honey Stinger Waffle with Tim (wasn't sure how the ol' stomach would do on a whole one!) and we headed off again.  I think we only had a little over 4 miles at this point.  I was able to push out another 2 miles before needing to stop one more time because my leg.  I was okay with it though.  I didn't feel defeated or frustrated.  My pace was around 10:30 for those miles and that is really darn good for me that late in the game of a long run.

When we got to Cemetery Hill, we were on our final mile and I knew we would finish before we hit 19th street. I still had about a tenth of mile to run when I caught up with everyone else.  As usual, those ladies were awesome and ran that final bit with me. When I looked down at my Garmin, I was about 10 minutes UNDER my 18 miler time. Heck, yeah!  Talk about a confidence booster!

The best part of this run was I enjoyed it.  I actually had FUN.  Tim was so supportive and goofy with me.  We would start singing Home as loud as we could-- "Home, I'm running home!'  :)  Also, Tim just somehow knows the perfect time to say something encouraging.  Every time a negative thought would creep in my head, he would say something about me being a rockstar or how awesome I was doing.  I know I say it all the time, but he really is fantastic.   

Couldn't do this without him.

 

Anyway, I survived 19 miles!  AND I wasn't miserable afterwards!  I honestly felt like I could have kept on running.  This is a big deal, people!  I am feeling like a BEAST-- watch out!  :)

ETA:  So, um yeah.  I was crazy sore on Sunday.  Like hit by a big ol' truck sore.  Maybe it was the Fried Snickers and the bites of Red Velvet Funnel Cake I had at Applefest the night before... regardless, I was pretty much a Sad Suzy all day. 

Eighteen Miles... of Doubt

I've had a hard time blogging about the 18 miler.  Maybe it's the soul crushing realization that training for a marathon is freakin' crazy and hard.  Crazy hard.  Anyway, it's been a few weeks, so here is a rundown:

1.  My phone alarm went off a 3:50am.  (Have I mentioned I'm not a morning person???)  When I looked at the temp, it was 79 degrees and a heat advisory was already issued for the day.  Blah.

2.  I found my missing shoes.  After the previous week's 17 miler, my feet were killing me.  So, I thought wearing the Brooks PureFlows that I misplaced would help prevent the achy feet this week.  I'm pretty sure Jake thought hiding them under the bed would prevent me from all of this early morning running.  Sorry, pup, I have other shoes!  

3.  Bugs suck.  I have no idea how many I ate when running through the lake.  It was too dark and they were everywhere. 

4.  Jack Huppert is AWESOME.  Once again, we had cold water, Gatorade, and some refreshing orange slices.  He also dipped some towels in ice water.  He totally rocks!

5.  I hate the sun.  The last 6 miles were pretty much all sun and it just fried my brain.  You know it's sad when you start to pick up your pace because you can see 5 feet (maybe) of shade a quarter of mile away. 

6.  Around mile 13, I realized my underarms were chaffing.  I've been chaffed many times in many different places.  I usually don't notice until I take shower and the chaffy bits feel like they are on fire.  However, I was VERY much aware of it this time.  At one point, I thought I may have been bleeding, but was reassured that it was just sweat because, OH, YEAH, I SWEAT A LOT. 

7.  Self-doubt is brutal.  The last 4 miles had me questioning my sanity.  It was hot and I was whiny and I was just trying to get done.  Running hurt.  Walking hurt.  My brain hurt.  I hated everything about the entire thing. 

8.  Tim was my cheerleader that morning.  I may have thanked him for the support, but I'm sure I also cussed at him.  I love you, Tim.  Thanks for tolerating my crazy.

9.  We finished about a mile away from Leah's house.  I was all out of water.  I walked that mile searching for a water spout on the side of every house we passed.  Sadly, I didn't find one, but if I did, I would have caused a spike in the person's water bill.  Next long run, I will remember to pack some cash so I can pop into Casey's. 

10.  Including stops for restrooms, etc., we were out there for 4 hours.  When I signed up for the marathon I put a finishing time of 5:30.  I had hoped I could come in closer to 5 hours.  At this point, I'll be happy if I finish at all. 

 

So, yeah.  I guess the reason it's been hard to write about the 18 miles is because it shattered the very little bit of confidence I had about this whole marathon thing.  Or maybe the sun just fried my brain.  Shrug.  Regardless, I never thought the training would be easy.  I knew that I would be physically pushing my limits-- I'm still a chunky monkey, after all.  I guess I never anticipated it being so mentally hard.  Sure, running is mostly mental, but man, I've never had so many negative thoughts at one time before.  I mean, the negativity was just taking over everything, including my physical ability to just keep moving.  Even when we finished and Tim gave me a high five, I was in a fog run hate.  There was no love there in that moment.  I hated running.

A few weeks later, I am less negative.  In actuality, I was better that afternoon (sitting on my butt in the cold air conditioning helped!) and was pretty happy that I was able to finish that run.  Sure, they were 18 miles of doubt and insecurity, but I did manage to keep on pushing and sometimes that is just what ya gotta do.  I'm sure my running buddies have similar feelings as I do, they are probably just a better at expressing them sanely.  I tend to be dramatic at times.  :)

Anyway, this upcoming weekend we have 19 miles.  The temperature looks to be cooler, so maybe that will help???  Expect an overly dramatic blog post at some point!

Running is hard, but these folks make it a bit easier!



17 Miles of Obstacles

Yep, that's right.  This girl ran 17 miles and survived to blog about it!

As usual, I didn't sleep very well the night before.  For whatever reason, every long run we've had since we've surpassed the 14 mile mark has had me stupid nervous the night before.  I can't even think about how I'm going to be the night before the actual marathon...

Jaime had mapped out a route that she and Tracy did when they trained for their first marathon.  It was similar to last weeks, so I anticipated hills, but she said it was pretty flat after the halfway point. Regardless of the hills, I was happy to be running anywhere but in town.  I am seriously over the streets of Murphysboro.

We all met up at Leah's house and headed out.  A little bit in (and by little bit, I mean, like, 10 seconds or so) Jaime realized her watch wasn't working.  We stopped to take a look at it, but couldn't figure it out. About a quarter mile in, I had to stop because the ends of my shoelaces were tapping on my foot pod. No one else could hear it, but all I could hear was "tap, tap, tap."  It was driving me nuts.  Then, about 2.5 miles in, Leah's hair tie decided to break.  We managed to fix her hair tie enough that she could at least get her hair off of her neck.  AND then at mile 4ish, I realized at some point I managed to lose satellite on my watch, so it was over a mile behind Leah's.  Now, none of this really got to any of us, but it just seemed a bit silly to have so many issues less than a few miles into our longest run to date!

Jaime's awesome husband, Jack, was kind enough to meet us at our midway point with some water and Gatorade.  He even brought Steve the biscuits & gravy and coffee he requested-- and Steve ate it! There is no way I could have eaten something so heavy and kept on running.  It didn't impact him one bit.  Tim said Steve felt pretty darn good while running and even commented that he felt he could go the whole 26.2 miles that day.  Maybe instead of gels I should be pack packets of gravy!  :)

I typically don't drink Gatorade on training runs, but when that bottle hit my lips, I just chugged it down.  It tasted SOOOO good.  I knew pretty much instantly that I would regret it.  My belly felt so FULL after. Yeah, biscuits and gravy definitely wouldn't work for me!

Shout out to Jack for being our personal Waterboy-- he's a keeper, Jaime!

We headed back out and yeah, I could totally feel all that Gatorade sloshing in my belly.  We had a few more hills to get up before we turned down a road that would be a bit flatter, so I just told myself to suck it up and keep running.  We were almost to the turn when we saw Tim and Steve standing there. When we made it up the hill, they told us that a big, black dog was about a mile and half down the (flat) road.  Sigh.  I had my mace and Jaime remembered the dog and thought that it would leave us alone, but with the full bellies, we erred on the side of caution-- ain't nobody got time to run faster than a dog!

So, this meant hills and coming up with a route on the fly.  Just another goofy obstacle for us. Seriously, kookiest morning ever.

Despite the disappointment of not having a patch of flat to look forward to, we soldiered on.  At this point, I was feeling okay.  My stomach still felt a bit full, but it wasn't causing me any issues.  We improvised the best we could as we headed back towards the lake.  Once we made it to the concessions there, we had about 4 more miles left.   We stopped there to use the restroom, stretch and do a gel.  This is pretty much when I started to fall apart.

I sweat a lot when I run.  I mean, A LOT.  Pretty much every inch of clothing on me was drenched.   Now, by some miracle, I wasn't chaffing (for once!) but my clothes just felt heavy and stuck to my skin.  I was uncomfortable.  Despite my body working overtime to cool me off, I was hot.  The sun was fully out and I knew that once we left the lake, there would be little shade.  Also, the bottoms of my feet were hurting.  When we stopped, it was uncomfortable to just stand on them.  I caught myself getting a little whiny and tried my best to push all the annoyances to the back of my brain.  We only had a little bit more to go.  I could do this.  We set a goal to just have about a mile left when we hit Cemetery Hill, and headed out.

I lagged behind Leah and Jaime those last 4 miles.  We walked when we needed to. Sometimes all that kept me running was just so I could walk again.  Since we were using Leah's watch as our guide, I made sure I didn't fall too behind-- I wanted to be done as soon as that darn watch beeped.Thankfully, we ended up finishing a bit earlier than expected.  Sweet relief!  Despite all the silly obstacles, we finished.  Seventeen miles- DONE!

Could not have ran 17 miles without these awesome ladies!

For whatever reason the last miles of our training runs have been unfairly hard on me. Even when we ran 13 last week, I melted down a bit at the end.  Tim assures me that it's just mental and that the day of the marathon I'll be too amped to have a meltdown, but I don't know.  Maybe it's all mental, but I really do feel like I can't run any further.  I physically hurt.  It's very frustrating because it makes it hard to feel confident about actually signing up for something so big.

Now, that doesn't mean that I'm not proud of myself.  The very fact that I got out of bed at 4am and pounded the pavement for over 3 hours is enough to make me feel like a rockstar!  Of course this rockstar's idea of "partying" afterwards was napping all day on the couch!  Oh, and getting a foot massage from the hubs!

He's the best.

Next week, we have 18 miles and then I think we fall back before we do (gulp) 20 miles.  I got this.  As long as I have my running buds with me, I'll be fine.

Sixty-three days until the marathon!